Troublesome Hormones
by naruko75
Summary: All Naruto wanted was to have some fun, nothing wrong with that right? Wrong. She never realized that sneaking around with one lazy bastard will come with its own set of consequences, especially when falling in love is the least of her troubles.
1. Chapter 1

**Disclaimer: i don't own Naruto and never will.**

 **warning: This story contains sexual content and swearing read at your own risk.**

 **I want to thank PurpleOmpski for editing the first three chapters of my story she'd been of great help.**

 **This story's timeline is a two or three years after the war, though things might be a little different than in canon like Neji for instance is not dead which makes this AU of sort. anyway, thanks for those that decided to give my story a shot as you can see this my first time writing a story so it might not be so good.**

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Naruto should have known, she should have sensed the trouble from a million miles away. All the signs were there, yet she had ignored them and just chalked it down as her having a bad day.

Like every bad day of hers, it started when she fell off the bed this morning. She laid there blinking for several minutes before she stood to switch her alarm off. With an angry huff, she decided to get ready. On her way to the bathroom she failed to notice the piece of clothing stuck between the door as she closed it; nor did she notice the soap on the floor of the bathroom.

She gave a yelp as she fell on her back for the second time that morning. "Ugh," she groaned, as she tried to stand, leaning her body on the sink. Shaking her head to clear it from it's foggy state, she walked to the shower and turned it on. Undressing while she let the water warm up, she did some stretches to get her body to wake up, then she got into the shower yelling out when the cold water touched her skin. After giving a defeated sigh, she stepped back into the cold water while grumbling curses about her landlady not fixing things.

Five minutes later, she was out of the shower, brushing her teeth with a towel wrapped around her and she chose to let her still wet hair dry naturally. When she was done, she made her way to the door only to find it wouldn't budge. She gave a frustrated growl because really she didn't have time for this!

She gave a harder tug, still nothing. She glanced around, trying to find anything anything that will help her open the door. She didn't want to break it down before the old hag sends someone to retrieve her. If she was late for their mission assignment, or heaven forbid if she arrives later than Kakashi-sensei, her team would never let her live that down.

That's when she had seen the small window on her left side. Looking at it for a moment trying to think if it was a good idea, since the window was small. She looked down at her body and back at the window. Well it wouldn't hurt to try, it's not like she's fat or anything, right? She thought, as she made her way to the window. As she climbed through head first, her body seemed to fit. Only when she was about to go right out, did she realize her waist was too big for the window, "What the hell?" she cried out, surprised, She just found out that her curves were too big to fit in a window! She tried harder to squeeze herself through only to get the same result she groaned aloud, "At this rate I will be later than Kakashi-sensei. I have a feeling that this is just the beginning of my troubles." She grumbled, now trying to push herself back in the bathroom when a voice startled her.

"Naruto?" she looked down to see Shikamaru standing on her balcony looking bored as always.

"Eh, hey Shikamaru! A little help here?" she said smiling sheepishly.

He looked at her considering if it was worth the trouble, maybe he should leave before it's too late. Everything involving Naruto is always troublesome, but then again, the Hokage did send me here to make sure Naruto gets there within five minutes. If he left her here and she gets there late... He shudders to think what will happen to him. An image of the Hokage breaking a desk flashed into his mind. He grimaced, It's probably not a good idea to leave her here. With a resigned sigh he made his way to the blonde.

"You're so troublesome, you know that? How did you manage to get yourself stuck here in the first place?" he asked as he pulled her by her arms earning a yelp from her as he had tugged too hard.

She scowled as she put her arms around his neck when he pulled her by the waist "It's not my fault if I'm having a bad day! My door seems to have locked from the outside, lady-luck is not with me today. You wouldn't believe what happened to me since I woke up," She said with a scowl on her face, "and how the hell am I supposed to know that my waist was too big to fit in the window?" she finished with a pout.

Shikamaru paused to glance down at her body only to flush in embarrassment, her towel was barely covering her. Leaving her smooth tan legs exposed which weren't the only things exposed. He cleared his throat and resumed pulling her out of the window. Naruto whined about the unfairness of it all, unaware of Shikamaru's reaction to her exposed skin.

When she was out, he carried her over to her balcony and put her down. Without looking at her he said "I came because Hokage-sama told to come tell you that 'you're late and you should get there in five minutes.'" he quoted in a neutral voice. Only then did he look at her and wished he hadn't. Now that he could see her properly, he was mesmerized at how she looked in her short towel. It was too small for her body by the way it was hugging her, no wonder she couldn't come out of the window. Has she always had curves like that? Why does she always hide it under those baggy clothes of hers? he wondered as he glanced up to her lips with the sudden urge to kiss them.

"Shikamaru are you alright?" Naruto asked puzzled at his expression.

Shikamaru shook his wondering mind to rid himself of those thoughts. What's wrong with him? How can he think of Naruto in that way? Naruto of all people, maybe it's the stress of what happened earlier with Temari getting to him? With another shake of his head he muttered "Troublesome," before turning around avoiding to look at her he walked away from her. "get dressed the Hokage is waiting. You don't want her to be pissed at you, do you?" he said before jumping on the roof opposite her apartment then he was gone.

Naruto was left watching after him until he disappeared out of her line of sight. With a puzzled expression, "What was it all about?" she wondered aloud before giving a loud shriek as she registered what he'd just said. She ran in the room only to slip and fall on her back, she groaned as she stood up rubbing her sore head. "I have a feeling this is going to be a long and awful day." She said having no idea how right she was right then.

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T **hank you for reading the first chapter, reviews will be appreciated and constructive criticisms is welcomed.**


	2. Chapter 2

Naruto glanced around the room as she entered the office, upon seeing that Kakashi was there leaning on the wall and reading his porn book she groaned loudly. Really it's just her luck today! To arrive later than her teacher, oh and the old hag is glaring at her this is just great!

"Don't look at me like that! It's not my fault that I'm late, I was locked in the bathroom and I couldn't come out until Shikamaru came and helped me get out." She said which earned her flat looks. They obviously didn't believe her.

"What else can we expect from you, Dobe ?" Sasuke said with a slight roll of his eyes.

"Teme!" Naruto said in warning.

She and the bastard had become very close since she'd brought him back to the village three years ago. Well, as close as she and Sasuke can be, She had finally convinced him to return home after he had killed his brother and avenged his clan, though she had to use physical force to make him acknowledge her as an equal. She had literally dragged him, she was tired of chasing after his stubborn ass every damn time.

The rest of the Konoha 12 were weary of him at first, then they just kind of welcomed him after his first year of probation because by then they deemed him trustworthy enough. But of course, Sasuke couldn't care less about what others thought of him.

"Tsunade-sama the mission please." Sakura intervened, before an argument could transpire between her two teammates. _"Sometimes they act like husband and wife"_ she thought, with a roll of her eyes. If she didn't know better, she would have thought that they were dating. She knew better of course, Naruto was going to tell her if they were. Naruto also knows how she feels about him, although she's gotten over her fangirlism, she still has feelings for him. She's just not acting on it because Naruto told her that Sasuke needs a friend more than a girl that admires him. That and if she loves him, she need to be his friend and support him as such. _"He was betrayed by the person he looked up to and loved"_ Naruto had said _. "If you love him you will have to be patient with him until he is ready to open up again."_ That day Sakura had listened, because even though Naruto might act like an idiot sometimes, she's probably the only one that understands Sasuke better than anyone.

And Sakura is grateful to her because if it wasn't for Naruto she wouldn't have the kind of relationship she has with Sasuke now. She felt included with the things they do, she doesn't feel like the weakling of the team anymore. Sasuke values her opinion as a teammate as well as a friend, sometimes he even smiles at her. Though its small and brief, it's a sign that she's making progress with him.

The Hokage cleared her throat and smiled gratefully at Sakura before speaking. "Now that everyone is here let's get down to business." she said "There has been complaints about the Land of Waterfall's new bar; it said to be dealing in illegal things, but isn't very sure. So I want you to investigate the matter. The bar only allows girls to apply as waitresses, so I want one of you girls to go in, preferably Sakura." She said as she looked at the girl who was looking insecure before nodding with determination. Tsunade smirked, the girl has come a long way. She looked at the second female on the team. "Naruto, you can't act worth shit and you're not girlish enough to pass up as a waitress. You're going to blow your cover as soon as you pass through the door." she said before the girl could protest.

Naruto scowled "What is that suppose to mean?" she said glaring at the Hokage who sighed impatiently but before she could open her mouth to say something Sakura interjected.

"What the Hokage is trying to say is, Naruto, you are more of a direct person. You can't do undercover missions because you prefer acting more than waiting it out. Your personality doesn't allow you to act like a girl in missions because you're too...too..." she trail off looking for the right word.

"Unlady-like?" Kakashi provided from his corner, earning him a glare from Naruto.

"Brash" Sakura finished, which is better than what Tsunade was going to say. Really her Shishou could be inconsiderate sometimes.

Naruto's mood seemed to have soured more after that explanation, because it didn't sound different from what the Hokage had said. "So basically you guys are saying that I cannot do missions girl related because I don't act like one?"

"Admit it Naruto, you never do things girl related and I bet you don't even own a dress or any girls clothing. You're like a boy in a girl's body, a tomboy." Sakura said rolling her eyes.

Naruto spluttered, "I-" she was cut off before she could defend herself.

"Let's finish the mission assignment first, you girls can argue later. I want to train after this." Sasuke said. with a touch of annoyance coloring his voice.

"Uchiha is right, do you have any questions regarding the mission?" the Hokage asked as she looked at the shinobi gathered around her office.

"Hokage-sama, about the mission you said that they weren't sure if the bar is dealing with illegal stuff what made them suspicious in the first place?" Sakura asked with a frown on her face

"Well mercenaries have been spotted going in there more than once, but they never seem to come out the same way. They're not the only ones, missing-nin have also been spotted on occasions." Tsunade answered. "I want you to investigate what's going on in that bar before you take any actions, consider it a B-ranked mission it should take you two or three weeks to complete the mission. The rest of the information is in the mission scroll." She said throwing the scroll to Kakashi who caught it with one hand eyes still fixed in his precious book."You leave tomorrow doesn't matter what time, you are dismissed." She finished as she went back to her paper work.

Naruto was the first one out, she stomped her way out the Hokage tower in a foul mood. She knew it was stupid being angry at such a simple comment and it's not like what Sakura said is not true either. She knows that she doesn't act like a girl, she's more forward than most girls and just because she doesn't fawn over cute boys and wear dresses that doesn't mean anything. There are plenty of girls that are kunoichi but don't wear dresses, like Tenten on Neji's team. Naruto has never seen her act feminine or wear dresses, though if she's honest with herself Tenten at least is going out with Neji, which can be considered as feminine things.

Naruto stopped as she caught her reflection in the mirror, there stood a girl in baggy clothes. You can only tell she's a girl because of her long hair in a ponytail and her feminine face, the curves of her body are hidden under her clothes. Naruto scowled as she resumed her walk, why is she thinking about it anyway it's not like Sakura meant anything by it.

She sighed as she put her hands in her pocket, she just wished the fox was here so she could talk to him to distract herself from this awful day. But the fox is busy sleeping, he calls it hibernating, though how a fox hibernates in a seal she will never understand. He'd told her he will be out for a month, he's been sleeping for two weeks now which leaves two more weeks to go, she m-

"Hey Naruto!" her thoughts were interrupted by a familiar voice, she turned around to find Kiba running towards her on Akamaru's back.

She waited until he caught up with her and fell into step with her. They walked silently for awhile with Kiba glancing at her for every other step, until he grew uncomfortable of the silence.

"What's up?" he asked.

Naruto shrugged her shoulder, "Nothing much you?"

"I'm all good. " He replied.

And they felt into silence again, Kiba shifted awkwardly and cleared his throat.

"Ino is making a small gathering at her new place tonight, all the Konoha 12 will be there I was just on my way to tell my team when I saw you." He said with a lopsided grin.

Naruto suddenly stopped in her tracks having gotten an idea."That could work" she muttered.

Kiba who had stopped with her looked at her warily."What would work?" he asked knowing that things with Naruto never end well, especially her ideas.

Naruto turned toward him with a determined look and asked "What time is the party Kiba?"

"uhm... at 8 'til later?" he replied hesitantly.

She beamed at this. "Great! See you there I've got some preparations to make, wish me luck!" then she was gone, leaving a dumbfounded Kiba behind. He scratched his head and looked at Akamaru who also had a confused look on his face, he shrugged before walking to his destination.

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Naruto stood there, staring at the door because she couldn't gather the courage to make herself knock. She had just arrived at Ino's place when she'd started having second thoughts about her idea. What if she doesn't look right? What if they don't notice? What if she's just embarrassing herself? She groaned, since when does she even care about what people think or say about her? She shouldn't have let Sakura's comment get to her now she's about to make a fool of herself.

Her plan was simple, she was going to Ino's party dressed as a girly girl. Instead of her usual baggy clothes, she's wearing tight-fitting jeans that hug her curves and a crop top that looks almost like the one Ino wears, except hers is orange and covers more stomach.

But now she is starting to regret it, she sighed as she glanced down at herself then back at the door what if she went back and changed would she still make it in time?

"Naruto?" her plans of escape were interrupted when a voice from behind startled her. She turned around to find Shikamaru looking at her, his expression surprised.

"Shikamaru! Hi what's up?" she said with a sheepish smile her hand going up to scratch behind her neck, the action causing her top to go up, giving Shikamaru a good view of her stomach.

Shikamaru found himself drawn to it even though he tried to avert his eyes. Eventually he managed to look at her face instead, he shrugged. "Nothing, just came to the party when I saw you standing there." He said as he looked at with a raised brow.

Naruto shrugged as she glanced at the door she was standing in front of then looked back at him."You actually came? Isn't it too troublesome for you normally?" she asked her tone curious.

"It is, but Ino threatened me to come and I needed the distraction anyway." he responded.

She raised an eyebrow but said nothing, instead she stepped aside to let him pass through. He didn't move. He was still looking at her, though this time his eyes moved to the clothes she was wearing and paused momentarily at her breast. The expression in which he was looking at her was making her feel flustered, though she didn't know why. She shifted uncomfortably before she could open her mouth to say something probably to break the silence.

"You look good" he said.

"Uh?" was her response because she can't have heard right, Shikamaru of all people couldn't have given her a compliment right?

"I said you look good, so stop worrying about it and go in." he said his expression back to its bored state.

Naruto sputtered at this, her cheeks turning pink. "Baka, who said I'm worried?" She said with her nose in the air "I'm just having some fresh air that's all."

Shikamaru shrugged," Are you coming in or not?" he asked as he held the door open so she could go in first.

She hesitated for a second and he rolled his eyes. "Naruto nobody will judge you, No matter what you wear you're still you."

She looked at him for a moment before nodding, she grinned at him "You're right I am Naruto Uzumaki, who cares about what people think." With another determined nod she went in with Shikamaru trailing after her. They were met with the sight of a very annoyed Ino trying to shove her shoes in Kiba's mouth.

"Troublesome, I'm going to get us something to drink." Shikamaru said beside her as he made his way to what appeared to be the kitchen.

Naruto was about to protest but he was already gone she shrugged then made her way to where she could see Hinata standing and watching her teammate being beaten by Ino.

"Hey Hinata!" she greeted as she approached the girl.

Hinata gave her a warm smile as she replied."Evening Naruto-chan, you look nice"

Naruto beamed at her before hugging her. "Thanks Hinata you're too sweet!" she said as she release the blushing girl.

"Look who decided to brace us with her womanly presence today!" Ino said as she walked towards them. She stopped in front of Naruto to assess her before nodding in approval "Good job but let your hair loose, come let me help you." she said as she grabbed Naruto's hand and pulled her on the couch so she could fix hair.

Naruto let herself be pulled because she knows better than to argue, when it comes to fashion and hair, Ino can be very determined if she wants to. With a resigned sigh she let herself be pulled on the couch and sat through all of Ino's comments and advice about hair product until they were joined by Sakura.

"Naruto?" she asked surprised. "Wow you look amazing!"

"Hey Sakura-chan!" she greeted pleased by her last comment.

Sakura sat next to her, she looked a little anxious as she took her hand and said "Naruto i just wanted to say I'm sorry for what I said earlier today and I still love you no matter what you wear or how you act." she finished with a small smile.

"It's alright Sakura-chan." Naruto said with a shrugged then added "Though it did hurt my feelings a little I kind of understand what you meant. I mean I'm not exactly the typical kind of kunoichi, imagine me doing seduction." She finished with a grin which Sakura returned with a smile of her own.

"So Naruto where did you get the clothes I thought you didn't own girls clothing?"Ino asked which earned her an elbow from Sakura.

Naruto though didn't mind "I bought them during my travel with Ero-sennin he forced me to buy them actually, said something about me needing to wear clothes like a normal girl." She said with a roll of her eyes though she had a small smile on her face she really missed the old pervert.

" Woah! Naruto!" A loud her voice interrupted her before she could say more, she turned around to find a slightly drunk Kiba making his way toward where they're sitting.

"Kiba do you really have to shout my name like that?" she scowled.

"Wow, you look hot!" he said ignoring her question. "Are those real?" He asked as he tried to touch her breast, he received a punch from Sakura before he could have the chance to.

"KEEP YOUR HANDS TO YOURSELF YOU PERVERT!" she screeched.

Naruto laughed at Kiba's expense, really she was worried for nothing she thought, as she watched everyone.

"Hey guys! Here are the drinks, what's a party without drinks anyway!" Ino said as she came in the room with bottles of drinks in her hands at one point having gone out to fetch them. She handed them each a bottle of beer refusing to take no for an answer.

Naruto hesitated for a second, she didn't want to get drunk now that the fox would not be able to stop the drink from taking effect and she didn't want to wake up with a hangover tomorrow. The shout of Kiba saying "Come on Naruto don't be a pussy!" made up her mind and she took a large sip of her drink, after all what's the worse that could happen? At the back of her mind she wondered where Shikamaru was she didn't see him since he went to fetch their drinks, the thought was quickly forgotten when Kiba shouted they should make a competition about who drinks the most.


	3. Chapter 3

Naruto laughed as she watched Kiba get beaten to the ground by Ino, they seem to be fighting a lot today, _'I wonder why'_ she thought with a mischievous smile, with both of them drunk the violence seemed to have doubled two folds.

Naruto shook her head in amusement and turn to look around the room, she saw Hinata on the other side of the room she was engaged in a conversation with Tenten, and Neji was just right on her left seemingly trying to stop Lee from drinking, Shino was just standing there watching everyone in silence and Choji was probably in the kitchen munching on something. Sakura was not there having gone earlier the moment she realized that Sasuke wasn't coming, Naruto snorted as if the bastard would ever go out to have fun, he is too busy having a stick up his ass to relax, she snickered at the mental image, then paused when she remembered something.

Naruto turned to look around when she noticed that Shikamaru was no way to be seen come to think of it she hasn't seen the lazy bum since he went to fetch the drinks, maybe he went home, she thought with a shrug as she went back to watching Ino and Kiba, taking a sip from her beer only to find the bottle empty, she frowned because she didn't remember finishing it, _'ah well I will just have to get another one'_ , she thought with a shrug.

She stood up to go, only to stop when a wave of dizziness washed over her. _'Ugh… didn't think I was drunk already'_ she thought with a grimace _'the hangover's gonna be a bitch tomorrow'_ she sighed, before straightening up to go get herself a drink.

Naruto walked to the kitchen (more like stumbled) only to let out a loud whistle at the sight, the kitchen was every house wife and mother's dream it was bigger than her kitchen, she mentally rolled her eyes at that because her apartment looks like a closet compare to Ino's new apartment.

The kitchen was big with a counter in the middle and a sink on the side. A movement on her left caught her attention and she turned to see Choji rummaging in the fridge.

"Hey! Choji What's up?" she said as she came up beside him. He looked over his shoulder smiling at her. "Hello, Naruto." He replied as he pulled out a piece of chicken out the fridge and started chewing on it.

"Eating as usual I see," she said with a fond smile, in which he replied with a shrug.

"Is there anymore drinks? I finished my last one," she asked as she bent to look in the freezer.

Choji frowned "The beers are finished, but there's sake in that cupboard over there," he said pointing at the cupboard above where the sink is, and added quickly "Though I don't think you should drink anymore, you don't look so good."

Naruto gave him a weird look. "I'm not sick, what are you talking about silly." She said going over to the cupboard, she gave a victory cry when she found the sake.

"I mean maybe it's enough for tonight because you kind of look…tipsy." he said uncertain of how she might take it he didn't want to offend her.

Naruto snorted "Don't you think I would know if was drunk?" she asked taking a cup and pouring herself sake before downing it in one go, she shook her head when she felt another wave of dizziness wash over her, she stumble a few step backward but she was caught before she could fall. She looked over at the bottle of sake before grinning sheepishly up at Choji who was looking at her with concern. "Eh eh… maybe it wasn't such a good idea after all." She said pushing herself away from Choji's grip who was reluctant to leave her.

"Ugh…I think I need some fresh air." She said as she swayed in place her face flushed.

"You can go to the balcony, Shikamaru is there too. Maybe you can keep him company." Choji said as he pointed to the door a little distance away from where they were standing.

Naruto squinted her eyes at the glass door then straightened after trying and failing to see pass the door because of the dark outside, she turned toward Choji who was also looking at the door with a worried frown on his face."Why? What's wrong with him? He looked fine when I saw him earlier."

"He looks fine but I know he isn't, after being his best friend for years I can tell when something is bothering him, but he won't talk about it." Choji finished with a shrug, before taking a bite of his piece of chicken that he'd momentarily forgotten.

Naruto took the bottle of sake, and waved as she stumbled her way to the door keeping to the walls for support she waved her bottle at Choji."Don't worry Choji, I will make the lazy bum talk or I will kick his ass until he spills!" she declared as she walked through the door not hearing Choji calling after her.

Choji looked at the door for a moment in worry, because Shikamaru doesn't handle drinking too well and he just knows Naruto is going to make him talk by making him drunk, before shrugging off his worries _'what's the worst that could happen?'_ he thought before going back to his chicken he will just check on them later.

* * *

Shikamaru was pulled out of his thoughts by the door of the balcony sliding closed, he turned around to see Naruto leaning on the door with a bottle of sake in one hand, she had a scowl on her face, and before he could ask about her mood she came up to him (though he noticed that she stumbled a little) and snatched the cigarette he was holding and squashed it in her hand before throwing it, then she turned to him with her hands on her hips and gave him a look that a mother would give to a naughty child.

Shikamaru shifted his feet guiltily before scowling turning his head on the other side, an indication that he wasn't saying anything, he didn't owe her any explanation, Naruto tapped her feet impatiently undeterred.

Shikamaru shifted again after he saw Naruto was still waiting. They stayed like that for about two minutes Shikamaru glanced at her from the corner of his eyes and was surprised to see that she was still waiting for him to explain. He mentally groaned, really? All he wanted to do when he came here was to smoke his cigarettes watching the stars twinkle (though he would've preferred watching the clouds instead) while trying to forget about his problems, but no, instead he got the number one loudest kunoichi and the _most_ troublesome (after Ino) girl he's ever known. But her charisma and kindness make up for it, not to mention that she's got pretty wise words, so maybe it wouldn't be so bad telling her she might know what to do, he needed a girl's point of view anyway.

"Troublesome," he muttered before turning to look at her, he then realized that something wasn't right with her. She looked flushed and her eyes was half lidded, his eyes slid to the bottle she was holding, he raised an eyebrow _'Is she drunk?_ ' His expression turned incredulous when he saw that she was still conscious, he then dismissed the incredulity and chalked it up to the kyuubi's influence.

Naruto having had enough of waiting interrupted his musing."Well?" She asked impatiently crossing her arms only to be surprised when she saw the bottle in her hand, she had totally forgotten about it; an evil smirk curled up her lips when an idea popped up in her head.

She gave him a sweet smile with her eyes closed, an expression that Ino had showed her and one that her fellow blonde had reassured her can melt any heart, and offered him the bottle. "How about a stress reliever?" She purred.

Shikamaru almost choked on his spit at this, the way she said it reminded him of one of the passage in Icha Icha tactics where this guy came from a mission all stiff and sore and his wife came up behind him with all her naked glory with a bottle of wine in her hands, she'd said the same thing with the same smile (at least that was how he imagined the smile was like) and now he can't help but picture Naruto doing the same, _'she certainly have the body to fit the role'_ he thought, but then mentally slapped himself for thinking it. What the hell was wrong with him tonight?

He took the offered bottle if only to cover the fact that he was blushing (unbeknownst to him that Naruto was doing an evil laugh in her head) he grimaced at the taste and gave the bottle back.

Shikamaru raised an eyebrow at her, "Are you trying to get me drunk?"

Naruto laughed nervously scratching the back of her head. "O-of course not, don' be stupid."

Shikamaru snorted at the poor attempt at lying but decided to humor her by taking another sip, he had to admit that she was right about the whole stress reliever part, he could feel himself relaxing slightly. He turned to see Naruto's eager face waiting, she had on a satisfy smile on her face, he blinked, and shook his head deciding to ignore Naruto's weird behavior, too troublesome for him, and took another sip grimacing at the effect it had on him.

"Why are you so eager to hear my problems anyway? Why do you care?" he asked with a suspicious look on his face.

Naruto rolled her eyes and crossed her harms under her breast making them pop out, his eyes latched on them against his will, he found himself wondering what size they are _'probably a C cup'_.

"Oi! Are you even listenin to me?" he blinked and found Naruto waving her hand in front of his face, he shook his head -he did not just think that!- and turned to Naruto questioningly hoping that the blonde wouldn't see the blush on his face. Naruto rolled her eyes in exasperation and glared at him.

"I said, I wana help you with your problems coz talkin 'bout 'em helps, at least that's what I think," she said. "You never know I might be able to help."

"I doubt it," he snorted."But I will tell you if you promise to keep it to yourself, don't even mention it to Sakura I don't want it to be Konoha's new topic for gossip, not until I fix it anyway." He said looking pointedly at her though he knew she wouldn't tell. Naruto may be loud and obnoxious sometimes but the girl can keep a secret that even under torture she wouldn't reveal.

Naruto rolled her eyes and looked at him as if saying 'duh' but nevertheless put her hands up and swore."I promise in my honor as future hokage to never ever mention wha' you reveal to me 'n I promise to help you with it to the best of my ability even if it means burying a corpse." Then she paused suddenly nervous."There is no corpse right?"

Shikamaru rolled his eyes though he had a small smile on his face really, it's hard to stay angry when Naruto is close by, she seems to have that effect on people. He shook his head in response to her question and Naruto sighed in relief.

"Oh good then there's nothing to worry about, now spill before I beat it out of you."

Shikamaru's fingers twitched before he remembered that if he tried to smoke Naruto would probably snatch it from him again, he debated whether to do it anyway but decided against it, too troublesome, instead he took a deep breath -there's no way out of this- and said bluntly. "Temari and I broke up." Then he waited for the outburst that was about to come.

"…"

He glanced at her confused and found her still staring at him, he was about to repeat thinking she probably didn't hear him when she interrupted him surprising him at a same time proving him that he underestimated her again.

"And?" she asked. "That can't be everything, this fight must've been bad if she decided to dump your lazy ass (don't look at me like that because I know she dumped you!) even though you guys always fight-more like complain about each other to each other Temari-san will normally just nag you until you do as she says and you find it too troublesome to fight with her anyway."

Shikamaru was left speechless what the hell happened to Naruto the loud mouth idiot? Instead here's this girls who's showing him a side that he would've expected coming from someone like Sakura or even Ino when she's in the mood, but Naruto? Where the hell as she been hiding her intelligence? (And how did he not notice she was hiding it?) Could it be-? He glanced at the bottle in his hand, he dismissed the ridiculous idea from his mind maybe she was always like that he just never noticed because they weren't that close in the past and when they actually talked it was in the company of other, and he noticed that she always acts the fool in front of Sakura.

Shikamaru found himself looking at Naruto differently, not the way he normally looked at her which is the way everyone looks at her as the idiot that everyone loves and respects for her powers and her spirit to never give up, instead he is now looking at her as a girl who despite appearance isn't what she seems, she's loud yes but what if it was all just a mask and the only reason he is seeing this side of her is because she was too drunk to keep it up? What if he was the one drunk for even thinking of such possibility? He shook his head to get rid of his thoughts and found Naruto scowling at him he raised an eyebrow though he already had an idea.

"Are you done fantasizing? Because I was calling you for the last five minutes, and you weren't answering."

He just blinked at her before drinking from the bottle, because he needed to at least be buzzed before he starts talking about him and Temari. When he was satisfied with the result of the sake he gave it back to Naruto who also took her share of the drink, he took a deep breath, _'here goes nothing'._

"She wanted to take our relationship to another level." He said.

Naruto blinked and blinked again. "Sooo, Temari-san dumped you because you wouldn't have sex with her?" She asked confused as to why someone would get mad just because the other wouldn't sleep with them.

Shikamaru snorted. "We've been sexual active since six month into our relationship, no, what she wanted is that we get engaged but I said I wasn't ready for that kind of commitment."

Naruto who was trying to wrap her mind around the fact that shikamaru had been having sex (with Gaara's sister no less) for three years now without anyone's knowledge,( or at least she hadn't heard anything about it) seemed to snapped her attention at Shikamaru's words of 'engaged' and 'commitment'. She gaped at him.

"Is she freaking insane! You are only 19 isn't it too soon for you to be settling down?"

"That's what I thought too at first, but then she told me that Suna's council is pressurizing her to settle down since she's turning 23 by the end of this month, and since she's in a relationship with me what better way to reinforce Konoha and Suna 's alliance then to marry Suna's ambassador and Konoha's powerful shadow master." He said rolling his eyes, taking the drink that was offered to him gulping it until it was burning in his throat.

"So you said no." it wasn't a question.

"I said no."

"Shikamaru you're an ass." Naruto said rolling her eyes.

"I know, but I had a good reason for refusing." He defended.

"Let me guess it was too 'troublesome'?" She said using her fingers as quotations to emphasize the last word.

"Yes, no, I mean that wasn't the only reason. Its troublesome yes, but you know I will do anything troublesome for her, just not this I don't think I want to commit myself just yet because,…" he scowled at this just thinking about it is making him want to his head on a tree.

"Go on, because? " Naruto interrupted before he could space out again.

"It's because of my clan that I can't marry her." He sighed, suddenly feeling tired.

Naruto raised an eyebrow."Won't or can't,make up your mind, one would think you family don't want you to marry Temari-san, which I won't believe if you told me that, because I know that everyone knows that your mother likes Temari-san a lot, because the girl has that whole bossiness that most Nara women have, she's good for you, to motivate you when you're busy slacking off."

Shikamaru looked at her appraisingly in which she rolled her eyes at him,(she seems to be doing it a lot tonight) he took a sip from the bottle when he felt the buzz in his head he smiled in satisfaction, just the way he liked it. He turned his lidded eyes on her.

"Like I was saying, my clan is the reason I can't marry her, because since I'm the clan heir, if I get engaged I'm expected to take the clan head position in six months and get married six months after that, produce an heir within a year; now tell me who the hell in their right mind would want so much responsibility at my age just to please a bunch of old geezers that have nothing better to do with their own damn time than to meddle with young people's life? Well fuck them and they can take their alliance bullshit and shove up their-"

The string of swearing that Shikamaru let out would've put Hidan the guy that murdered Asuma( Kami bless his soul) to shame, Naruto was honestly impressed she hasn't heard those type of swearing since the time she got lost in the red light district when she was younger, she saw two hooker fighting over who got the client first, Naruto hadn't been able to sleep for days after that night, who knew women desperate for money were so scarry, she gave a shudder just thinking about it.

"-Temari of all people should've understood me but no, she called me a pussy! She fucking called me a fucking pussy of all things! Gee, if I'm the pussy I don't know what she is, since she's the one that always cries for me to fuck her harder." He finished with a grumble, as he took another sip relishing at the wave of dizziness that came after hopefully tomorrow he will forget everything that happened tonight. Naruto's eyes widen at the mental image though she could understand where he was coming from imagine the person you love decided to end your relationship just because you weren't ready to commit yourself to them, even after she heard the reason why. But that's not really what's on her mind right now.

Naruto was still trying to wrap her mind around the fact that one of her friends is sexual active, she wondered who else was, maybe Ino she seems like the type what with all those sexual comments. She tried to imagine herself with a guy but failed because the only experience she has is through the book Icha Icha paradise that ero-sennin made her read during her trip with him. She found herself asking Shikamaru a question that she would never have asked if she wasn't under the influence of alcohol so no one could blame her for being so forward and not to forget the teenage hormones blame that as well, a growing healthy girl has to be curious about sex at some point after all.

"How does sex feels like?" she asked Shikamaru who blinked at her in surprise, (not shocked, because his brain was functioning too slow right now) because he had forgotten she was standing there during his rant.

He shrugged after registering what she'd asked him. "I don't know how to explain it, all I can say is it's a good feeling, makes you forget about your problems for a while because all your attention will be on the person you having sex with." He said taking gulp of the bottle while gripping the railing of the balcony to keep him from falling, he gave her the bottle and watched as she drank the last content of the thing, she looked at him her eyes bright despite her drinking state, he found himself mesmerized by her beauty standing there under the moonlight with her long hair loose framing her beautiful face she looked like a goddess. And he suddenly felt hot everywhere especially a certain place southward, he took a deep breath to try and calm himself down because even though he was drunk right now his brain can still think rationally and he knows whatever he's feeling he isn't suppose to act on it for some reasons that he doesn't remember nor does he want to think about it.

Naruto giggled at shikamaru's expression which looks like the look she gets every time there is a new flavor of ramen (she knows because Sakura had taken a picture of her looking like that) though she knew it was silly because Shikamaru doesn't like ramen and the only reason he would look like that is if he seeing something he likes and since there's no cloud in the sky (obviously) that could only mean he was looking at her, at this she paused normally she would get shy and embarrassed at the implication but right now all she felt was excitement at the prospect that Shikamaru of all people was looking at her, she couldn't help but act on it even though she knew it wouldn't be a good idea, and Naruto was known for always acting on impulse.

She took her hair between her finger and started twirling it with her finger she licked her lips and gave him what she hoped was a sexy smile, she saw his eyes widening and to her pleasure he gulped. "So how was your first time having sex?" she asked in a small voice that made her sound innocent.

Shikamaru stared at her for a moment _'Is she trying to flirt with me?'_ he thought before smirking; the girl doesn't know who she's dealing with, he leaned toward her until he was only centimeters from her and said slowly voice deep. "I don't remember, it was all a blur, all I know is it was very awkward since we were both inexperienced, and yours?"

"Never had any." She whispered her eyes on his lips which was just centimeters from hers.

"Oh really?" He whispered back.

"Are you flirting with me?" she asked.

"Maybe, are you?"

"Maybe," She smiled."Why are you whispering? " She leaned closer so that their lips were almost touching, she could feel his breath on her face, she licked her suddenly dry lips.

His eyes followed the action and he smiled."I don't know, why are you whispering?"

She grinned."I don't know."

They stood their looking at each other for seconds that felt like hours, Naruto's heart started beating fast in her chest and she distantly wondered if he could hear it but all that was in the forefront of her mind was how close they both were. She could feel the warmth radiating from him, and the way his eyes looked at her it made her body tingle, the way her breast seem to harden just by standing near him and she wondered if that's what being horny was.

"Should I kiss you?" he whispered voice hardly edible.

Her breath hitched at that, suddenly unsure of herself should she let him kiss her? Or maybe they shouldn't be doing this, there's a reason why they shouldn't but she doesn't remember which one is it? Agh… fuck! Thinking is giving her a headache so once again she went on impulse. Her eyes met his and their both froze, both seeing the same thing in each other's eyes, lust and longing for each other, she swallowed and whispered softly "should you?"

He looked at those beautiful blue eyes that seem to swallow him in their deep end, that seems to be begging him to do something, what other choice did he have but to obey? "I think I should." He replied just as softly before closing the distance between them.

He kissed her hesitantly at first just in case she might want to pull away, she didn't in fact she was kissing back her arm snaked up behind his neck, she gave a low moan opening her mouth to allow him entrance, the kiss was deep and passionate and she felt his arm encircle her waist and draw her flush against him, eager lips warm and soft. Naruto shivered a wonderful warmth invaded her being and she felt giddy and heavenly.

Time lost its meaning, it could have been some mere seconds or hours, they managed to withdraw to catch their breath before succumbing to the desire for another kiss they drove back in. His hands slid down to cup her rear and she gasped and arched her lower back into him and he responded by bringing her flush to his obvious arousal.

His mouth slid down at the side of her neck to suck at the sensitive part, she gave a groan at the pleasure coursing through her body, who would have thought that Shikamaru was this good? Her hand slid down to clutch at his shirt feeling his abs through the fabric, he trail his mouth from her neck further down to kiss her breast, he was about to lift her top when she stopped him.

"Not here." She whispered, referring to where they were standing anyone could come out and see them. Shikamaru took a shuddering breath because he had forgotten about where they were, actually he'd forgotten about everything else except the need to touch and taste her. They were still standing close together with his arm still around her, he leaned forward his lips on her ear.

"My house is one block from here…we could…" He hesitated a little unsure of her response. "…go there if you want."

Naruto's response was to kiss him full on the lips, now that they started there was no fucking way she was stopping, though she couldn't help but feel a bit nervous about what was to come.

It was all Shikamaru needed. With a growl and without breaking the kiss, he slid an arm behind her knees and picked her up bridal style, he jumped on the rail of the balcony using chakra so they wouldn't fall (since he was still dizzy from the alcohol) and made his way to his apartment with Naruto in his arms.

* * *

Shikamaru grunted as he was shoved against the door shutting it in the process and a pair of lips met his, he opened his mouth and Naruto's tongue met his, her sweet taste overpowering his senses. He groaned as he felt her nipple hard against him through his shirt, bringing his hands to squeeze them she let out a gasp and he felt himself hardening even more, he turned reversing their position so that she was the one pinned against the door. He grabbed her hands and pinned them on top of her head with his own arm and used the other to undo the laces of her top, when the clothing fell on the floor he bent down to take one of the nipple in his mouth, reveling in the soft moan and whimpers coming from her glad that he wasn't the only one being affected it by this. Naruto lifted her legs up to encircle his waist and pulled him against her feeling his hard groin through his pants, he groaned loudly at the contact. With a growl he cupped her ass and made his way in the bedroom kicking the door open, he couldn't wait any longer, he needed her, he needed to be inside her, he dropped her on the bed and followed after her, kissing her hungrily while she lifted his shirt over his head her hands roamed his shoulder, chest until she slid her hand down and started untying his belt in which he assisted her in removing them along with his boxers.

Naruto bit her lip as she regarded him, he was well built not bulky, his body was average size packed with muscle (most Shinobi were) a result from training. Her eyes slid down and they widen at sheer size of his penis, but instead of being nervous like a normal person would she actually felt excited at the fact that it was going inside her. She looked up and met his gaze, he seemed to be waiting for her _'how sweet'_ she thought and smirked, she tilted her head to the side letting her hair fall on her shoulder, in a voice that sounded unlike her own she purred "Well Shika-kun, what are you waiting for?"

At this Shikamaru almost lost his self control, but somehow managed to restrain himself from just doing her then and there until she passed out, damn her for making him react that way and for that she's going to pay. The smirk he gave her sent shivers all over her body, hardening her nipples more. A small sound that sounded more like a whimper escaped her lips as he pulled her body towards him and removed the jeans she was still wearing. he raised an eyebrow when he saw she wasn't wearing any panties.

"What? I had to leave it 'cause the pants was too tight!" She defended cheeks red from embarrassment because now she was totally exposed to his hungry gaze. Shikamaru's eyes looked at her up and down drinking in every curve of her body, he notice the way her long straight hair was sprawled on the bed and the way she was looking at him with her cheeks flushed and her lips slightly parted, she was just beautiful. He leant down giving into the urge to kiss, he tugged on her lips demanding entrance in her mouth, she willingly obliged letting his tongue explore the sweetness of her mouth moaned in pleasure. His hands slowly came up to cup her breasts, squeezing them gently making Naruto gasp in his mouth.

So lost in pleasure was Naruto, she didn't feel Shikamaru's right hand move along her tigh and turn inward as he found the valley between her legs and began to stroke her swollen lips. She inhaled sharply and pushed her hips forward as his middle finger went up and down her full length several times, before setting on her clitoris and rubbing it with a gentle force in a circular pattern. Naruto's body shivered under his efforts, and her hands reached up and fisted his hair. Her body was covered in sweats , and she was growing dizzy with arousal, she let out an uncontrollable gasp as she bucked her hips against him and cried out, "Oh Shika-kun …don't stop!".

He began to move faster, pressing her clitoris harder and sending new shockwaves throughout her body. He pressed his mouth even harder against her hers shoving his tongue back into her mouth to smother her overpowering admission of need. Her orgasm consumed her as she climaxed, her scream of ecstazy held back in his mouth. She continued to moan as he slowly stopped fingering her clit. He moved his hands and put her legs over his shoulder, he brought his mouth to her hears and whispered, "Are you ready?"

She nodded her head vigorously and cried out, "YES! FUCK ME YES! PLEASE SHIKA!" she said without hesitation, how come no one has ever told her that sex felt so incredible? What the hell has she been missing all those years from? Now that she had the taste of sex there's no way she's going to stop now.

Lost in the same sea of lust that Naruto was, Shikamaru immediately complied with her request. Positioning himself at her entrance, he rubbed against her fold in order to lubricate himself properly for when he entered her. Shikamaru groaned and thrust gently into her because even in his drunken-lust induced state he still remembered that she was still a virgin and he didn't want to hurt her. He looked down at her and asked "Are you alright?" when he saw her nod he thrust deeper and she gripped his hair hard at each thrust he winced slightly at the pain but didn't do anything to stop her.

Naruto felt her heart beating fast and as the pain receded every sensation got better, pleasure course through her whole body. She started moving her body against him, pushing herself forward with each thrust picking the pace, biting her lips to keep the moan from escaping though it was useless as Shikamaru slammed hard against her a gasped escaped her lips and she cried in pleasure.

Shikamaru placed light, slow kisses along the side of her neck and collarbone. Moans and groans sounded all over the room coming from both shinobi. Shikamaru was on the verge to climax when suddenly Naruto stopped moving and reach her hand and pulled his face toward "Oh no you don't! not yet, I have a lot of stamina and I plan to use it, so don't quit out on me just yet," she said giving him a kiss before releasing him and reversing their position so that she was on top of him, she grinned at him both her hands resting on his shoulder, "Get ready for the Uzumaki riding-Shika no jutsu!" she exclaimed.

The only thought that passed through Shikamaru's mind was _'Holy fucking shit!'_ before he was sent in the world of pleasure and ecstasy, he never thought someone could be that fast while having sex, he's neveed so much pleasure in one round no even with Temari and you know what? he fucking liked it, he could go a whole night with her riding him like that. Where the hell as she learned to move like that? Another thing he learned about the blond today is that she's a hot sex partner. Shikamaru's eyes rolled to the back of his skull as he groan "Naruto you're so good…" he reached and took her breasts in his hands playing with her nipple.

"Na…Naruto … agh shit!" He yelled and they both jerked and spasm reaching their climax and Shikamaru felt something shoot out of his painfully erect penis as his body exploded in pleasure, and he tightly held onto Naruto. It took them a full three minutes to come down from the temporary high known as an orgasm and they relaxed against each other, that was the most thrilling and heart pumping encounter that either of them had ever had the pleasure of experiencing.

Shikamaru leaned back until he was fully lying on the bed taking Naruto with him so that she was lying on top of him. He chuckled his voice panting.

"You're alright Naruto."

She smiled against his chest "Yeah you too, we should do this more often."

"Absolutely, this needs an encore." He said as he closed his eyes for a well deserved sleep, with Naruto already gone on his chest.


	4. Chapter 4

Shikamaru woke up feeling hot and heavy, not to mention very sore all over his body though the noticeable pain came from his head which felt like his brain was being pounded with a hammer, he tried to move wondering what troublesome situation he'd gotten himself into last night, but found that he was unable to do so.

He blinked in surprise when he felt the weight on top of him shift and he was assaulted with a smell of apple flavored shampoo, he looked down to see blond hair on his chest. He forced his brain from their still sleepy state as he tried to process what his eyes was seeing, but he only managed to further worsen his headache. _'Okay Shikamaru, relax and think, you've got someone lying on you'_ which explains the extra weight on his body and by the feel of curves digging in his side his bed partner was female and naked and so was he. A sense of foreboding filled him when he remembered that he and Temari broke up so whoever is lying on him was not her and it doesn't help that this person has an awfully very familiar hair color. _'Let's just hope it's not who I think it is'._

He took a deep breath knowing that panicking wouldn't help in any way. _'Focus Shikamaru and do what you do best. Think and analyse the situation.'_ First he needs to make sure that it is not her, hopefully it's some hooker that he picked up on his way home at least that will save him the embarrassment.

He shifted slightly so he could better see her face, he let out a sigh when he saw the hair color was wrong and it couldn't be Ino , this girl was more sunkissed gold than Ino's pale blond. _'Wait what-?'_ his head snapped back down but he could only see the side of her face but that was enough because as soon as he saw the whisker marks, he knew that he was doomed.

 _'Oh shit'_ was the only thought going through his mind as he sat staring at Naruto lying there in all her naked glory for several minutes, his brain still having a hard time to understand what his eyes were seeing.

And just like that last night's memory came rushing back to him. Memories of him and Naruto talking and drinking and of them having sex- though those are a bit hazy.

He closed his eyes as a sense of guilt and shame filled him, and also anger at himself for losing control. He got up careful not to wake Naruto up and made his way to the bathroom.

He ran his hand in his hair In frustration as he paced the bathroom thinking of what to do now, Naruto is going to wake up at any moment now, how is he supposed to face her after taking advantage of her? Because that's what he did, he used her to distract himself from his break-up. He froze when an image of a heartbroken Temari appeared. _'Stupid, stupid stupid!'_

He let out a frustrated growl before smashing the mirror with his fist only to hiss in pain afterwards. He cursed, stepping under the shower to wash himself and the blood from his knuckles. Instantly he felt himself relax as the warmth of the water seeped through his body loosening his tense muscles. He closed his eyes relishing into the sensation while trying to think of what he's going to do when Naruto wakes up.

He grimaced, totally not looking forward to the conversation. But he knows that it has to be done, hopefully things won't get too awkward between them; he'd hate it if his lack of control over his hormones messed their friendship.

One thing he was sure of is that Temari should never know what happened, even though they're not together anymore. He still feel guilty for sleeping with someone else, one of his friends no less, not long after their break-up.

He sighed tiredly as he got out of the shower, he made his way to the little cabinet above the sink to look for a band-Aid he always keeps there, bandaging his hand with it. He wore his towel on his waist as he got himself ready for the upcoming confrontation with Naruto, troublesome.

He opened the door to his bedroom expecting to see Naruto still sleeping on the bed, but it was empty, he walked over and found Naruto bending down her head was under the bed seeming to be looking for something, probably her clothes. She was wearing the bed sheet around her body.

Shikamaru couldn't help but stare at her behind, his eyes traveled from the curve of her back to her ass, Naruto has a nice ass, he decided before slapping himself mentally for the thought which got him in trouble in the first place.

He took a deep breath as he steeled himself, _'this is going to be so troublesome but...'_

He cleared his throat and she gave a startled cry knocking her head in the process. She came out from under the bed cursing and rubbing her head, she opened her mouth to speak when she caught sight of him standing in front of her wearing only a towel, her face turned red and she looked away.

There was a moment of awkward silence before it was broken by Naruto.

"So uhm..." her blush deepened further as she played with the hem of the sheet. She looked up before averting her eyes again and she closed her eyes willing the embarrassment away. She took a deep breath before trying again, "so you...I mean w-we..." if possible her face got even redder, right now she was doing a perfect imitation of Hinata.

Shikamaru decided to put her out of her misery, even if watching her squirm is amusing, she looks so cute and innocent. He felt bad crushing the little hope that's written on her face.

"Yes. We slept together," he watched as her shoulders slumped at his admission.

"Oh" was all she said, as she looked at her hands trying to think of something else to say to break the silence but she can't get herself to look at him without feeling embarrassed. How could she have let this happen? What must he think of her now?

"Naruto, I...I'm sorry." She looked at him with confusion written on her face.

"I'm sorry for what happened last night. It was my fault, I just had a nasty break up and I was hurt and angry. I guess I just needed a distraction to forget and you were there willing to listen to me whine and I got carried away; and I didn't mean to use you like that and you were drunk but I still took advantage of you." By the end of his speech he was a little out of breath, he blinked as he saw Naruto gaping at him in shock.

And she then laughed, Shikamaru frowned in confusion. Confused as to what she found so amusing though he already had an idea.

"Wow... I mean, wow! That's the first time I've ever heard you talk so much, and not once did you say the word Troublesome. I'm actually impressed."

Shikamaru rolled his eyes at her as he made his way to his dresser to look for clothes, he was a little annoyed at her, who wouldn't be? Here he was trying to apologise for sleeping with her which he recalled was her fault too, flirting shamelessly with him, he immediately felt bad for having that thought. He sighed tiredly rubbing his throbbing temple, it's not like he did anything to stop her at the time, if he recalled right he actually enjoyed it; the way her body was pressed against him, the way her inexperienced hand had run on his body, the way each kiss seemed to send sparks of fire throughout his body leaving him wanting for more, so different from kissing Temari yet she's the one he loves.

Shikamaru shook his head bringing himself out of his thoughts. What is wrong with him? This is Naruto he reminded himself and last night happened because he was drunk so anything he must've thought he felt was just the influence of alcohol.

Naruto bit her lip as she watched Shikamaru's back which was tense and she felt bad for laughing, how could she be so insensitive? He obviously put some effort to apologize even though it must have been troublesome for him to do so; he even decided to take all the blame even though they both know she had a hand in it too.

"Shikamaru I...I'm sorry," she said as she stood up walking over to him, she stopped two feet away from him still grasping the sheet around her. "I didn't mean to ... I was really nervous and embarrassed, still am. When you apologized I was surprised and mortified that you'll take all the blame for something I had a hand in... so I just laughed to mask my real feelings I guess." She finished in shrug.

Shikamaru turned to face her if he had a pocket he would've put his hands in them posing as nonchalant instead he opted to just cross his arms.

"And I'm sorry, it was my fault too," she continued when he didn't say anything, "I guess I was still upset about what Sakura said and I wanted to prove to myself that I could be a girl too, so I used you just as much as you used me."

They fell into silence after that, Naruto looking anywhere but him as she tucked her hair behind her ear, missing some strands which refused to join the others and she blew an irritated breath. She was about to smooth them back when a hand reached across to do it for her, the action surprising them both. She looked up at Shikamaru who gave her a faint smile in return.

"You don't have to prove anything. I think you're fine the way you are."

Naruto's eyes widened, it wasn't a compliment, not really yet, she couldn't stop the warmth of his words to spread all over her body as she smiled back shyly.

She blinked only now realizing that his hair wasn't in its usual ponytail. She could see droplets of water falling from them, her eyes followed them as they traveled to his chest all the way down to his well defined abs joining more drops of water and disappearing under the towel. She swallowed as she suddenly felt hot, licking her now dry lips she looked back at him and her breath hitched when she saw his dark eyes looking at her with an unreadable expression on his face. She felt exposed under that expression. She wanted to turn away and step back but for some reason she couldn't, his gaze seemed to freeze her on her spot. She licked her lips again and his eyes followed the movement as if entranced. She was now aware of how close they were and it seems like the space was decreasing between them or was it him closing in on her, he was leaning down towards her. A wave of panic washed over her, what should she do? Should she step back and run? Maybe she should-

Her thoughts were cut off by two pair of lips capturing hers.

She froze at the contact, confused as to what was happening. Shikamaru was kissing her, his arms around her waist. And it was sending sparks of electricity throughout her body that left her feeling weak and lightheaded.

Slowly, inch by inch she relaxed Into his arms and started kissing him back, opening her lips to give him access to her mouth which he gladly took as he slid his tongue exploring the sweet cavern that is her mouth.

Naruto moaned clutching at his shoulders, as much to hold herself upright.

Shikamaru groaned and pushed a thigh between her legs. Her body pulsed. Her blood thickened. Her breathing became nonexistent.

She should probably stop him before it went too far, before they did something they would both regret later just like last night. But she can't bring herself to, this felt so good, too good. It felt so right to be here standing in his arms. She liked this, whatever this is, it felt incredible...to feel so wanted and she recognized a small part of her that still craves for acknowledgement and attention. Not the same kind as when she was younger, no. This is different, more...intimate, and she can't help relishing into the pleasure it's providing.

She let out a surprise gasp as she was backed against the closet; the sheet must have fallen down at some point because his hands found their way on her ass squeezing it occasionally, each time sending waves of pleasure throughout her body.

She bit her lip as he trailed little kisses down the side of her neck as she ran her hand in his wet hair, sending shivers down her body.

She broke the kiss, pushing him away from her so she could think clearly.

"I-we shouldn't... I mean-" she stammered blushing furiously, "I- I've gotta go...I just remembered I have a mission with my team." She mumbled without looking at him she grabbed the sheet to cover herself and lifted her hand for a shunshin.

That seem to snap him to action he quickly grabbed her arm to stop her from leaving.

"Wait, don't go...I'm sorry I don't know what came over me. I wasn't thinking," he said running his hand into his hair.

Naruto snatched her arms from his hands glaring at him, "Do you kiss anyone out of the blue without thinking?"

Shikamaru was taken aback by her tone. "Uhm no...It just happened. One moment I was fine then the next I just had the urge to kiss... you."

Naruto forced herself to calm down, what was she expecting? That he actually wanted her, pff, yeah right. He was probably thinking of Temari when he kissed her. She knew she was being ridiculous for getting upset because of it, since she knows that he loves Temari but she can't help feeling like she's been mislead. The thing is, yesterday she wasn't entirely drunk. After seeing the way he was looking at her, as if she was the most beautiful thing he's ever laid eyes on, it felt...nice. The alcohol just made her more bold leading to the sex happening. Obviously Shikamaru was under the influence of alcohol, that he didn't mean any of the things that he'd told her. To him all of it was just one huge mistake, he just needed to relieve his frustration and she was there willing to let him use her. Aggh, she felt so dirty right now and it was her first time too! She closed her eyes so that he wouldn't see the emotions in them.

She opened them again and gave him a smile, which obviously looked forced to him.

"It's fine, I understand. If you'll excuse me." She was about to leave again when Shikamaru stopped her again he was studying her face. Now she just felt annoyed.

"What!" She snapped.

"You're upset." He stated and she rolled her eyes, "Look if it's about last night we can just forget about it and act like it never happened and I said I was sorry for kissing you like that."

If looks could kill, Shikamaru's body would've already been six feet under, buried and forgotten. He shuddered at the thought.

"People don't just have sex and forget about it, and if you're used to casual sex while you drunk I'm not. That WAS MY FIRST TIME DAMN IT!" Her voice had been rising by the end of her sentence as she grew frustrated with him, why can't he just let her go? "And you had no right to kiss me!"

"But you kissed me too."

She blushed but the glare didn't lessen in fact it intensified if possible it's obvious she's been hanging around the Uchiha a bit too much if the glare was any indication. "So?"

Shikamaru blew a breath, "I don't know why you're so upset with me about it. We were drunk, we did something we both regret. It's not like I can give you your virginity back, so the obvious solution is to forget it happened. I apologized already for both so stop being so troublesome and let's get pass this, arguing won't help either of us." maybe he shouldn't have said that, the punch he got was enough to send him knocking back against the closet. He should have expected the punch just from the way she was glaring at him, now the headache he'd forgotten he had came back at full force. _'Troublesome,'_ he thought as he slumped on the floor.

"YOU-YOU JERK! I CAN'T BELIEVE YOU JUST SAID THAT!" She shrieked. She took a deep breath to calm herself. When that didn't work, she threw her hands in the air with a frustrated cry. "Fine, you want to forget about last night? Then stay away from me asshole!" She said before giving up on the shunshin and teleported using the haraishin, straight to her home.

Shikamaru groaned in pain struggling to stand up, he looked at where the raging blonde had been standing, confused as to what just happened. "Troublesome," he muttered massaging his temple as he got up. He's going to talk to her later after he deals with his headache and maybe sleep a little it should give her enough time to cool down. It's just his luck to get involved with a troublesome girl.

Though the blame is on him, he didn't handle things as well as he should have. In fact he probably made things worse, he thought of the kiss. He shouldn't have done that, not after apologizing for last night, he acted like an asshole. Like he said earlier, he doesn't know why he did it, one moment he was just looking at her adorably flushed face and the next thing he knows he was leaning in to kiss her and before he could stop himself she was kissing him back. He stood in front of the sink with a cup of water in one hand and some tablets in the other, _'hopefully this will be enough to lessen the pain.'_

Still... he can't deny that he might be attracted to her at least physically, troublesome hormones.

...

"That good for nothing son of a- agh!" Naruto fumed as she stomped her way in the bathroom, kicking the door closed behind her.

When she was done, she came out feeling less angry. Now that she was calmer she regretted punching him even though he deserved it. And what's up with that kiss? Why kiss her then apologize for it? Is it because he felt sorry for her that he thought kissing her will make her feel less self-conscious? Or he was just being a jerk? She thought as she got herself ready for her mission.

She sighed, it's not like she can do anything about it what's done is done and now she just have to forget about it. Now only if it were that easy, she thought as she made her way out of her apartment on her way to meet her teammates.


	5. Chapter 5

"Sakura stop, you're giving me a headache."

Sakura abruptly stopped pacing and turned to where her teammate sat leaning against a tree with his eyes closed. How is she giving him a headache if he's not even looking at her? She wondered.

She sighed knowing that pointing it out will be useless, instead she walked over to sit next to him. They've been waiting out here for their other teammate for more than an hour now, still there was no sign of her, even Kakashi their tardy teacher arrived fifteen minutes ago though he disappeared just as quick after saying goodbye and telling them everything about the mission-which is just everything the hokage told them-still Naruto had not yet arrived. Sai couldn't make it because he had another Anbu mission. So here she is waiting for Naruto _alone_ with Sasuke and instead of being happy because that's what she'd always wanted but she's angry because not only is Sasuke _not talking,_ she can't think of anything to say that wouldn't make her sound like a fool, and all of this is Naruto's fault if she was here she wouldn't have been in this predicament.

 _'when I get my hands on her I will...'_

She stood abruptly resuming her pacing with her fists clenched at her side, Sasuke didn't bother stopping her this time.

"What could be taking her so long?" She grumbled aloud drawing Sasuke's attention though he remained silent.

She stopped pacing to consider the reason for her tardiness. It is rather unusual of her, she's always been one of the first people to arrive in a meeting, because according to her she'd rather be dead than be later than Kakashi-sensei. With a sigh she turned toward Sasuke who was watching her like she'd spouted two heads she ignored him and was about to tell him that maybe they should go look for Naruto at her apartment but he interrupted her before she could open her mouth.

"She isn't there."

Sakura blinked not surprised that he'd guessed what she was about to say, but that Naruto isn't at her apartment. Where else would she be?

"What do you mean?"

Sasuke shrugged as he stood up to stretch his now stiff muscles. "I sent a clone earlier and there was no one there." He said flatly as if that's supposed to be obvious to her.

Sakura shook her head from her momentary distraction of Sasuke's muscles stretch to focus on what he was saying. "Wait, you mean that Naruto didn't sleep at her apartment?"

Sasuke gave her an irritated look, "what I mean is when my clone knocked at her door earlier no one answered, she's probably stuffing her face with ramen somewhere and she forgot the time. The best course of action is to wait for her in case we miss her when she gets here."

Sakura blinked again, that was the most she'd heard him speak and then she realised that he was probably trying to make her stop worrying in his own way, she smiled up at him. "Thanks Sasuke."

"Hn." He shrugged.

She was about to say something else when they both felt a familiar chakra approaching. They turned to see Naruto running towards them.

She stopped right in front of them, bending over to catch her breath. She was about to apologize when a fist knocked her on the head, hard.

"Ow! Sakura-Chan, what was that for?" She whined rubbing the abused spot on her Head.

"That's for being late idiot." Said Sakura crossing her arms with a scowl on her face. "Where have you been?"

Naruto froze at the question a flash of panic registered in her eyes Sakura caught it and frowned, Naruto's eyes dropped on the ground.

"I-uhm." Naruto's hand shot out to rub behind her head a gesture she always did when she was nervous. Sakura's frown deepened why would Naruto be nervous about answering a simple question?

"You were on a ramen run again weren't you?" Both heads whipped in the direction of Sasuke who was now standing with his arms crossed in front of him. He had one brow raised in questioning while his face remained blank.

Naruto grabbed onto the reason as if it was her lifeline. "Yeah! Sorry guys I didn't mean to keep you waiting, but I couldn't help myself ha ah!"

"Hn Dobe."

"Don't call me that Teme!" Though she smiled in relief at the save, she owed him one.

Sakura's frown didn't disappear in fact if possible it deepened further but this time it was in confusion. She didn't understand why Naruto was acting so strange, where could she have been that she didn't want to tell them? And why was Sasuke trying to cover for her? Did he know something? Did he lie to her about her not being in her apartment? All these question raised themselves in her head in suspicions. She shot him a look to which he shrugged and tipped his head in Naruto's direction, who was now looking to the side seemingly deep in thought judging by the pinched expression on her face, she looked distressed she kept fiddling with her thumb and biting her lips in worries.

Sakura's face softened against her will, a worried expression settled on her face instead. She walked over to where her friend was standing and put a hand on her shoulder startling the blond out of her thoughts.

"Naruto are you okay?" Naruto's eyes widened in surprise at the worry in her friend's face, a small grateful smile graced her lips as she nodded.

"I'm fine, but thanks Sakura-Chan." she said hugging her, she returned the gesture.

"If you're done feeling each other up I'd like to start on the mission." Sasuke said boredom dripping from his voice.

Sakura looked appalled at his words releasing from the hug almost immediately while Naruto just rolled her eyes.

"Jealous much, teme?"

"Hardly." Sasuke snorted, "but we do need to start going, the sooner we start the sooner I can get rid of you."

Naruto glared at him with her hands on her hips, "well it's not like I'm thrilled to be working with you either, your pathetic ass will probably keep us back anyway."

"Are you sure that you're not talking about yourself?" Sasuke sneered.

And just like that they were back to normal with Naruto and Sasuke arguing back and forth and Sakura trying to keep them from killing each other. Whatever the problem was with Naruto, she seem to have forgotten it, for now, so maybe it wasn't that serious, Sakura thought as they made their way to the village gates.

-line break-

"Shikamaru wake up you lazy bum!"

Shikamaru groaned as he woke with a start at the sound of pounding on the door and Ino's voice, he stumbled his way out of his room to open the door. His head was still killing him and the noise wasn't helping.

He opened the door and glared at both his teammates standing by the door. Ino had her hand raised in a fist, ready to pound on his door once more. He scowled at them with his bloodshot eyes.

"Is there a reason why you're trying to break my door?"

"Hello to you too sleepy head. Now get out of my way." Ino said and before he could stop her, she walked right pass him and straight in his living room.

His scowl intensified and he shot Chouji a glare as if this was his fault, the latter only shrugged. "You missed lunch, man." Was all he said lifting a bag of food in his hand. Shikamaru's brows lifted in surprise, he hadn't realised he'd slept that long. He stepped aside to let Chouji in and both followed after their female teammate.

"Damn!" he heard her say from the living room, "what the hell happened in here?"

Shikamaru froze on his track has he'd just remembered why he'd been sleeping. Naruto. At this, he touched his face where she'd punched him. He sigh in relief, the bruise wasn't that bad.

He'd gone straight back to bed after Naruto had left hoping that his headache will subdue, so he didn't get to fix the mess they'd probably made Last night. With a sigh he reluctantly dragged himself where his friends were both standing looking around the living room. He blinked in surprise as he surveyed the room himself. _'It's not that bad'_ he thought to himself and it's true, only some furniture seemed out of place and they were things on the floor here and there. Frankly, he'd expected worse, broken table, torn curtains...that sort of mess.

He shrugged as a response to Ino's question quickly thinking of an excuse. "I was looking for something." Was his lame answer. Without looking at his friends, he started arranging the couch back in place.

Ino rolled her eyes believing the lie immediately, to her there wasn't any reason why he would lie anyway. "Well, I'm going to fetch some plates, I'm hungry." With that, she went in the kitchen.

Chouji went to help Shikamaru. They worked in silence for a while with Chouji glancing discreetly at his friend in concern, whose mind seemed far away, his expression pensive.

"Are you alright mate?" He asked after awhile.

Shikamaru looked up and was about to tell him that he was fine but he hesitated, should he tell him? This was Chouji his best friend, the only other person he trust with his secrets besides himself. But he's not yet ready to tell anyone, it's probably for the best he doesn't think Chouji will be too happy to learn that he'd just took Naruto's innocence and thrown it back to her face this morning. After a moment of thoughts he shook his head, yep he'd just keep it between himself and Naruto and if possible no one will ever have to know about it.

"Yeah I'm cool, just a little tired I guess." _'And sore',_ he thought stretching his stiff muscles.

"Rough night?"

"You could say that?" He said, snorting at the understatement.

"I hope Naruto didn't bother you." Chouji turned to him concerned written on his face, with a tilt of his head.

Shikamaru froze and he looked at his friend his expression carefully guarded. "What makes you think that?"

Chouji shrugged, "it's just she was pretty drunk last night and I kinda asked her to check up on you." He sounded apologetic. Shikamaru inwardly sighed in relief, outwardly he gave a smile.

"Don't worry, she didn't bother me at all." He said as they finished with the last of the furniture. They stood up side by side watching their handy work when Chouji decided to ask the question he'd been dreading.

"So where did you go last night?"

"What do you mean?" He said stalling for an answer.

"When I went to check on you two, there was no one on the balcony and since I was in the kitchen the whole time I didn't see you come in..." He trailed of because Shikamaru was giving him an annoyed glare.

"What's up with you? Why are you questioning me?" He gave him a suspicious look when something occurred to him,"did Ino put you up to this?"

"Up to what?" Ino said emerging from the kitchen with three plates and a cup of...something hot in her hands, Chouji went to free her from the plates to put it on the table, happy to get away from Shikamaru's glare. "Are you two talking about the reason why Shikamaru didn't join us at the party?"

"What are you talking about? I was at the party." Shikamaru scowled in irritation, not at them but at himself for being in this predicament.

"Yes, but you _weren't_ with us at the party." She said giving him the cup with the instruction to drink while still hot, "I figured you'd have a hangover so I brought you one of my speciality." She said with a wink taking a sit on the table next to Chouji who was already digging into his food.

"Thanks," Shikamaru muttered the scowl still on his face. With a silent thanks for the food he started eating while contemplating different ways to get rid of them. It is obvious that him missing lunch wasn't the only reason why they'd come. Prying is the main reason and it doesn't take a genius to guess who's idea that was, he thought glancing at Ino who caught him looking and flashed him an innocent smile. He sighed in resignation as he forced himself to eat his food.

Ino spoke after awhile, "so are you going to tell us or do I have to ask you."

"Tell you what?" He said, inwardly he frowned at their persistence. Could it be that they're suspecting something? But it can't be, the only person that knew that he'd been with Naruto apparently was Chouji and there's no way that he'd seen anything happening between them, because if he did, he wouldn't have let Ino to come interrogate him. He looked over at his friend who shifted uncomfortably when he caught his raised brow, but shrugged in response. So yeah, it's something else that brought them here.

Ino rolled her eyes at him, "Shikamaru don't play dumb, you know damn well what I'm talking about." When he didn't say anything but just raised an eyebrow she sighed, "fine, we know about Temari."

He froze after a moment he relaxed again, _'so that's what this is all about',_ he thought, his mind already figuring where the conversation is going. He carried on eating not raising his head he asked, "who told you?"

"No one. I saw her," she said crossing her arms on the table, "she was really upset, she told me that it was over between you two, but she wouldn't tell me the reason. What did you do?"

Shikamaru scowled, "what makes you think I did something?"

"You're a guy."

He rolled his eyes, "of course, because us guys are scum right?"

"Exactly!" She said with a cheerful smile. "Now spill, and what happened to your hand and face? Were you in a fight?" She said in alarm as she walked over to sit next to him.

Shikamaru looked at his hand in surprise having forgotten about it. He let Ino heal it when she asked for it, but when she went to heal his bruised cheek he stopped her. "Leave it." He deserved that one.

Ino gave him an odd look, but didn't push it. "So do you want to talk about it?"

Shikamaru's teeth clenched, he wasn't ready to talk about it, especially now after yesterday. He'd spilled his gut to Naruto and it didn't end; not that anything will happen with Ino, he is not _that_ hormonal. Though, He couldn't help but think that it was somehow Temari's fault, if she hadn't broken up with him he wouldn't have- no, not going there now, but later when his friends are gone. He sighed again (how many times had he done that this morning?) suddenly not feeling hungry anymore, wiping his hands with a napkin he stood up and made his way back to the living room he threw himself on the couch facing the ceiling.

Ino who's not one to give up so easily followed him bringing his cup with her, he'd forgotten it on the table. He took it from her since his head had started pounding again, he immediately felt better after one sip so he took more, it was tasteless for something that looked so disgusting. Chouji followed after them, sitting on the couch across Shikamaru.

"You don't have to say anything if you don't want to," he said smiling gently, "we just came to check up on you, you haven't been yourself lately."

Good old Chouji, always the peace maker.

"Speak for yourself." Ino said, "I want to know everything. Why did you break up with her if you lov-"

"She broke up with me." Shikamaru cut her off.

Ino blinked in surprise,"wai-what! But why?"

Chouji looked at his friend in concern, "are you alright man?" He asked knowing that his friend must've taken it hard.

Before Shikamaru could respond Ino waved him away so she could sit next to him, "forget about not saying anything, I want you to tell me everything. I need to know what could have caused Temari to break up with you, I mean you lazy and all-frankly, I wouldn't blame her- but I thought you guys were lovey dovey, or whatever."

Shikamaru sighed in resignation, soon or later they would've learn about it and he'd rather it'd be sooner so that Ino would stop pestering him. So with a deep breath he told them everything about him and Temari's break up. When he was done they fell into silence.

"So yesterday after the party you didn't do anything reckless did you?"

Shikamaru sighed, what an understatement. 'Reckless' isn't the word he'd use for what he did. But he shook his head anyway, not wanting to give Ino more gossip to spread.

Ino looked unconvinced, but before she could say anything Chouji opened his mouth to ask.

"So the council is forcing Temari-san into marrying you?"

Shikamaru nodded, his annoyance showing on his face. He still can't believe that Temari had let them talk her into this. She should've known that he wouldn't go along with their ideas. And it's not like Suna and Konoha are not in good terms either, on the contrary, the alliance has never been stronger especially with Naruto and Gaara being close friends and all.

"Is her brother okay with it?"

Ino snorted, "there's no way Gaara will let her sister be forced into marrying."

Shikamaru silently agreed, Gaara isn't one to be easily swayed by the council or anybody for that matter, especially when it comes to the people he cares about. Now that he really thinks about it, it is strange that Temari came all the way from Suna to tell him about it, surely he would have heard about it from the hokage sooner or later. Maybe it wasn't official yet. He frowned as something occurred to him. Would she marry someone else now that he'd said no? He wondered, that will be messed up, he really needs to talk to her. Right now, he felt like he was missing something.

"So why did you say no? I thought you loved her." Ino narrowed her eyes in confusion.

He shrugged putting his hands behind his head he laid back on the couch. "I do. I just don't want to get married on anyone's terms."

Ino rolled her eyes, "we're ninjas, we don't always get what we want, idiot."

Shikamaru shot her a look that says 'You're one to talk ', she sniffed at that.

Chouji took out a packet of chips as he shifted in his sit uncomfortably. "what are you going to do, man?"

"I will try and talk to her."

"You're an idiot." Ino said and he rolled his eyes. "Don't you roll your eyes at me. You can't just 'try talk to her ' that just won't do , you have to apologize!"

"Apologize for what? I didn't do anything."

She jumped up in frustration, "You're so infuriating! How many times must I tell you that us girls like when guys take fault even when they're not wrong!"

Chouji snorted despite himself, humble and Shikamaru didn't belong in the same sentence.

"She's the one that broke up with me. I'm going to talk to her and make her understand my point of view, but I'm not apologizing for anything."

Ino sat back down in a defeating sigh. "Whatever, don't say I didn't warn you."

They fell in silence again with only the sound of Chouji eating chips.

"So how did you get that bruise?" Ino pointed to his face. "I don't think you had it last night when you came."

He was hoping she wouldn't ask, he grimaced at the reminder of Naruto and why she punched him. Now, there's someone he owes an apology to; he had probably hurt her feelings. How troublesome, he thought tiredly.

"I walked into a door." That was probably the lamest excuse anyone had ever come up with but he didn't care.

"From your side?" She looked sceptical.

"Yes."

She narrowed her eyes in suspicions sensing that he was hiding something. "And it left you a bruise on the cheek?"

"Yes."

"It looks like someone punched you."

"No it doesn't."

"Yes it does."

"No one punched me, Ino, just give it up."

Normally she would just pester him until he tells her, but today he wasn't in the mood for her prying.

Ino threw her hands in the air in frustration. "What is wrong with you? Why won't you tell me who punched you?"

"Don't you have someone else to bother?"

Ino was about to respond, but Chouji jumped in before things could get out of hand. "Ino, didn't you say Ibiki wanted you to go in early?"

Ino threw him a glare for interfering, with an angry huff she stood up to go in the kitchen taking Shikamaru's cup with her all the while grumbling to herself.

Chouji visibly relaxed, when she was out of the room he shifted again in his sit to make himself comfortable." She is just trying to look out for you."

Shikamaru rolled his eyes, "well, I can take care of myself just fine."

Chouji just shrugged his mouth full of chips, he'd already started on another packet. He had so many questions to ask but he knew that his friend didn't want to talk. It doesn't help that Shikamaru's eyes kept shifting between the door and the bedroom it's obvious that he didn't want them here. He shifted again, he frowned as he felt something behind him, he brought his hand behind him to retrieve the item. He saw that it was a small piece of orange clothing, strange, it looked familiar, he narrowed his eyes and stretched the clothing and found that it was a top. He gasped when he remembered where he'd seen it or who he'd seen wearing it.

Shikamaru who had been about to drift off woke up at the sound and looked up at his him in question. Chouji's face was pale, his eyes wide in confusion and he was holding something small and orange. Naruto's top.

Shikamaru's own eyes widened, his whole body froze and his only thought was _'why the hell do I keep getting myself in these situations?'_

"wha-" Chouji said still not able to believe what he was seeing, he shook his head to clear it and he tried again, "this is Naruto's top right?"

Shikamaru quickly debated between denying it but decided against it, there's no way Chouji would believe him so he just nodded slowly, If possible, Chouji's face paled even further. Frankly, he thought that Chouji's reaction was a little overboard, it can't be that shocking to have someone's clothing at your place he leaves his clothes at Ino's all the time, doesn't mean there's anything going on between them. Then again, the circumstances are different he could just imagine what's going through Chouji's mind, he must be wondering how did Naruto get home without a top and what could cause her to leave it here. It doesn't take a genius to put the dots together.

Just as he thought, Chouji must've put the dots together because he was now hyperventilating.

"Chouji, calm down." He said calmly or as calmly as he could considering his body was tense, right now all he wanted to do was jump out of his window. "I can explain, this isn't what you think, all this was just an accident."

Chouji relaxed letting out a breath, "ah so you didn't...you know...do it?" He asked blushing in embarrassment.

"Uhm...not exactly,"

Poor Chouji he looked like he was having a stroke as he choked on his spit. "What the hell man?!" He exclaimed when he regained control of himself again.

Shikamaru shook his head, "I can explain, believe me I didn't meant for it to happen-" before he could finish though they heard Ino walked in.

"I need to get back to work guys-"

With speed he didn't know he possessed, Shikamaru snatched the top from Chouji and sat on it to keep Ino from seeing it.

"-Ibiki didn't give me much time..." She trailed off when she saw both her teammates looking wide eyed and pale, "what did I miss?"

Shikamaru glanced at Chouji with a pleading look and the latter shook his head in response to Ino's question. Neither of them speaking.

Ino look suspiciously between them, Chouji wouldn't meet her eyes and Shikamaru wasn't even looking at her. She would have insisted they tell her if she still had time, as it was she was already running late . "Are you coming with me?" She asked Chouji instead.

"Yes... Uhm, I promised to help my dad with something. So see you... Uh... Later Shikamaru." He said standing up, he followed Ino, who was ignoring Shikamaru out the door but not before sending Shikamaru a meaningful look. They will discuss this later.

Shikamaru waited until he was sure they were gone only then did he relax in his seat. After a moment he took out the top and looked at it, it was so bright that he still wonder how he'd miss it earlier. And when had they (as in he and Naruto) gone in the living room? Because he really doesn't remember that part.

"How troublesome." He muttered not for the first time that morning.

-line break -

"Naruto, are you even listening to me?"

"Uh?" Naruto blinked as she was brought out of her thoughts, again. She turned to see Sakura looking expectantly at her, she turned to Sasuke maybe he would give her a clue as to what she'd miss, not a chance Sasuke's face was as blank as a board. She scowled at him, then turned back to Sakura with a sheepish smile.

Sakura sighed in exasperation, "I said we should book a room with two beds to save money, Sasuke-kun doesn't mind sharing a room with us."

"Why do we have to share a room? From what I know we have enough funds to each book a room."

"Because it will be a waste, and we shouldn't take advantage of our client's generosity."

"He's the one that said we could, how is that taking advantage of his generosity." Naruto frowned in confusion, sometimes her friend made no sense at all.

"It is when I say it is, beside Sasuke doesn't mind, right Sasuke-kun?" Asked Sakura in a sweet voice.

"Hn, whatever." Sasuke said without stopping.

Naruto's eyes widened in realization and she pointed her finger accusingly at Sakura. "You just want to be in the same room as Sasuke so you could watch when he s-" Sakura hurriedly covered her mouth with her hands to keep her from saying anything more. But Naruto would not be kept quiet easily, she snatched herself from Sakura.

"Ah Sakura you pervert!" She shouted drawing attention from a passerby. Sakura turned red and with probably more force than necessary punched her loudmouth friend.

"Shut your mouth you idiot!"

"Oww! But Sakura-Chan it's true!" Naruto said rubbing her head from the blow. Sakura was about to punch her again but Sasuke stopped her.

"Both of you should stop acting like idiots, you're drawing too much attention."

Sakura blushed in embarrassment, but Naruto just stuck her tongue out at him. Sasuke rolled his eyes at her childish behaviour, at least she's acting like herself again, well, mostly. She hasn't spoken much since they left the village, she kept zoning out, and whatever she was thinking about will leave her embarrassed. Now they were on their way to find the inn that was appointed to them having traveled at full speed so that they wouldn't camp out for the night. Luckily they arrived just before sunset.

The inn wasn't too bad, mediocre at best, Naruto thought when they arrived. The inn keeper was friendly enough and he didn't even asked questions when they told him that the chief was paying, he just nodded and called for his assistant to show them their room.

The room was spacious enough for the three of them, it consisted of two beds big enough for only one person and Naruto sent a glare towards Sakura to which the latter smiled sheepishly. There was a door on the of the room, probably the bathroom. With a sigh she dragged herself in the room toward the window, at least it has a nice view, she thought looking down at the village.

Sakura collapsed on the bed kicking her sandals off and almost immediately, she jumped back off taking her stuff with her she ran for the shower wanting to be the first to use the hot water.

Naruto shook her head in amusement, she smirked when she saw Sasuke's annoyed expression directed at the bathroom door. The bastard was probably planning to go in first, serves him right. She looked back out the window, to the slowly empting street. She smiled when she saw two kids playing with a ball. The village seemed peaceful enough, not at all like a place being invaded by missing nin, then again the old hag said that it was a particular restaurant that was suspected of illegal activity and it could be rumours for all they know. Something caught her eyes, it was a couple, they were both sitting close together on the bench seemingly not aware of the darkening sky or they just didn't care. They looked so comfortable sitting close together, the girl had her head on the guy's shoulder, he said something to her and she looked up and they were both leaning towards each other. Naruto quickly looked away her cheeks warm, she felt like she was intruding. As she turned she saw Sasuke looking at her with a raised brow, her blush deepened and she grinned in embarrassment scratching the back of her head feeling even more stupid because Sasuke couldn't have known what she'd seen.

"What's up with you?" He asked walking over to his bed (the bed he'll be occupying for the duration of this mission).

"Nothing." It would have been believable if her voice didn't go high up, she cleared her throat, "I mean why would you think there's anything wrong with me?"

"You've been acting weird the whole day."

She has hasn't she? I just lost my virginity to one of my friends who up until now I never looked at in romantic way (not that there's anything romantic about a drunken night sex with your friend), so how am not supposed to act weird? She wanted to shout but instead she took a deep breath to calm herself because she was pretty sure that Sasuke would kill Shikamaru if he ever found out, and the fact that it's pretty embarrassing was another reason why she couldn't tell him or anyone for that matter.

So with a forced practiced smile that Sasuke probably saw through she said "I will be fine." And it's true, she always is fine at the end, because she never lets anything bring her down for long, she always bounces back on her feet, that's why she'd come this far.

Sasuke's eyes narrowed but before he could say anything Sakura came in looking fresh and clean.

Naruto gaped, relieved for the distraction, she pointed her finger at her, "who are you and what have you done to Sakura-chan?"

Sakura looked at her in confusion.

"You took less than ten minutes." Sasuke explained.

Sakura blushed and looked at her toes, "well, we're on mission."

Naruto snorted, "like that ever stopped you before."

"Do you want to repeat that for me?"

"No thanks! I was just about to go take a shower too." She squeaked making her way hastily to the bathroom but stopped to turn, "did you want to use the shower?" She asked Sasuke who looked more irritated. After a moment, he sighed and shook his head and Naruto flashed him a bright smile before sauntering off to the bathroom.

Closing the door she let her smile slip off . She made her way in front of the mirror, her reflection stared back at her, she stripped-down naked still staring at her face in the mirror. She still looked the same as the last time she'd looked at her reflection, yet, she feels different somehow, something in her has shifted. Is that what feeling like a 'woman' means? She'd heard stories about girls having sex for the first time, they said you're supposed to look different too, older. She wrinkled her nose at the silly notion, She looked down at herself and blushed in embarrassment when she remembered last night for the umpteenth time since she woke up. She sighed _'did I really have to make a jutsu name during sex?'_ She thought her face flaming in mortifying embarrassment. what must have Shikamaru thought of her? She froze in horror, what the hell is happening to her? And since when does she care what Shikamaru thinks of her? She slapped herself on the cheek multiple times to focus.

"Focus Naruto, focus!" She scolded herself, "you have to forget about last night and concentrate on the mission because you can't afford to be distracted-"

A snort interrupted her she glanced around the room in confusion, when she was sure that she was alone and that the sound couldn't have come from the outside so that only leaves...

"Kurama?" She tried softly but there was no response, she tried a couple of more times inwardly and outwardly still nothing.

With a disappointed sigh she made her way to the shower.

Fifteen minutes later she was done and out of the bathroom.

The moment she stepped into the room Sakura abruptly stopped talking and they both turned to look at her with wide eyes. well, Sakura's eyes were wide Sasuke just looked bored.

She looked between the two suspiciously, before she could ask them anything, Sakura jumped from her sit.

"Naruto! We were just talking about you!" She exclaimed cheerfully.

"You were?" She asked looking doubtfully between the two. "Why?"

"We decided to take you out for dinner tomorrow."

"I decided no such thing." Sasuke said immediately.

Sakura sent him a pleading look to which he ignored by taking out his clothes out of his bag.

 _'Cold bastard'_ Naruto thought and as if sensing her thoughts he looked up to give her one of his superior smirk. Naruto rolled her eyes at him. Her suspicion about them increased, they were trying to hide something from her or at least Sakura was, it was hard to tell with Sasuke. People always assume that she can read Sasuke easily, but that's only the case when Sasuke allows her but right now, he had his guard up. She looked between the two and decided to let it slide, for now, she's too tired to try and get them to tell her anyway.

"But Sakura-Chan , we're on a mission." She said deciding to play along she walked over to them, "you're the one always saying the mission should be our first priority, so what gives now?"

"It's you."

"Me? What did I do?" She said grabbing her bag where she'd left it on the floor, she took the towel inside to wipe her still wet hair.

"You've been moping around whole day, so I thought that we should all go out together, it might cheer you up." Sakura said taking the towel from Naruto.

"I wasn't moping." Naruto grumbled letting Sakura dry her hair.

"Oh please, have you looked yourself in the mirror lately?"

"uhm yes, why?"

"Because you look pathetic." Sasuke interjected from his seat.

Naruto glared at him. "What are you still doing here? Shouldn't you be in the shower by now?"

Sasuke smirked, "what makes you think I'm not?"

Just then they heard the shower being turned on and the sound of water splashing. They turned to the smug looking clone on the bed who mouthed the word 'loser' before dispersing into tiny snakes.

Naruto glared at the spot where the clone had been. "Jerk." She muttered under her breath.

"At least he talks to you." Sakura said with a sigh leaning over to take the brush from the nightstand.

"Yeah, only to annoy me." Naruto grumbled, "and what do you mean by that? Sasuke talks to you too!"

"Only if he has to and those occasions are rare."

They fell silent for a while, with Sakura brushing Naruto's hair. When she was done, Naruto took her hands in both hers.

"Don't let it bother you, Sasuke is Sasuke, he will come around eventually." She said, then added. "Plus, Sasuke is like a brother to me."

"I know." Sakura squeezed her hands, "with the way you guys fight all the time I don't think there will be any time for romance between you two."

Naruto made a face at the word romance and they both laughed.

"So," Sakura said after they calmed down, "are you going to tell me what's wrong with you?"

Naruto thought about it for a moment before nodding to herself. Sakura might know what she's going through, but before she could talk they heard the shower go off. Sasuke was done.

Sakura squeezed her thigh to indicate that she'll always be there if Naruto needed talking. Naruto smiled gratefully.

"Anyway, about that dinner?"

Naruto groaned, "I thought you'd forgotten about that."

"You wish." Sakura said grinning.

"I don't suppose I have a choice do I?"

"Nope!" Sakura sing songed.

"Okay." Naruto said in a defeated tone, but she was smiling.

Sakura jumped triumphantly, she even did some silly dance which caused Naruto to laugh.

"OMG! I've got so much plan for both of us, but we're going shopping first, there's this shop I saw on our way here that sells nice..."

At the word shopping Naruto paled and the more Sakura talked the paler she got.

"Oh!" Sakura gasped and whatever was coming out next Naruto knew she wouldn't like it. "We can go to the spa!" Sakura squealed and Naruto's brain screamed in horror with her.

"Sakura!"

Sakura stopped whatever she was saying to stare at her with wide. She needed to intervene before it got out of control. So with a deep breath and a level of maturity that she does (not) have she said, "we're on a mission. How about we finish it first, then we can have fun later? " She suggested hopefully.

Sakura's excited grin widened, "ha! that's the best part." She took a deep breath as if preparing to launch into an explanation of the fact of life, "we're going to the restaurant in which we were assigned for the mission. Think about it, the villagers see us shopping and having fun they will think that we're just normal teenagers visiting their village, that will be enough cover for us to go to the restaurant without looking suspicious, and whatever missing-nin that might be lurking around will drop their guard around us then BAM! We catch them."

she stopped to take a breath before smirking smugly, "so, what do you think?"

"I think it could work ." It was Sasuke that answered joining them in the room.

Naruto was too busy gaping to say anything. she shook her head in disbelief, no matter how many times this happens she will never stop being shocked at how smart Sakura is. She certainly doesn't look it with her pink hair and all. She'd actually plan this from the beginning!

"Wow Sakura-chan, you really thought this through didn't you?"

Sakura blushed at being complimented by Sasuke. She'd stopped paying attention to Naruto as soon as Sasuke entered the room. He looked hot with his hair wet, and he didn't have a shirt on! She could see every muscles and abs. Inner Sakura squealed in excitement. No matter how many times she sees him like that she never gets tired of it, now only if she could touch it.

"Cover up bastard, you're embarrassing Sakura-Chan." Naruto said from the bed amused at the effect Sasuke's body was having on Sakura.

Sakura glared at her, and Naruto lifted her hands in surrender. "Fine, Sasuke stay like that and why don't you throw in some sexy moves while you're at it?" She said sarcasm dripping at the word 'sexy'.

Sasuke tilted his head to the side a smirk pulling at his lips. "So does that mean you think I'm sexy."

"You wish." Naruto rolled her eyes, "you make Kakashi-sensei look attractive in comparison."

"Sensei is attractive." Sakura said.

Sasuke and Naruto turned to look at her, the former mildly interested and the latter sceptical.

"What?" She said defensively, "it's true."

Sasuke raised an eyebrow, "and you know this how?"

Sakura willed herself to stop blushing like a school girl, she's eighteen for crying out loud! "Ino once tricked Hinata into using her byakugan to look beneath Kakashi's mask." She said in wonder, how had she forgotten about that?

Naruto's jaw dropped, even Sasuke had his eyes slightly opened wide in surprise. Naruto couldn't believe it, there is one person in Konoha who had seen their sensei's face? Naruto stood up and went to Sakura shaking her body senseless.

"Why haven't you told us?!" She screamed in desperation.

Sakura scratched her cheek sheepishly, "because I was drunk and I forgot it happened?"

"Figures." Sasuke muttered with a snort, he walked over to his bed to go sleep leaving his two teammates gossiping about what their sensei looked like under his mask or should he say masks? He thought, remembering the time they were twelve and they wanted to see their sensei's face...yep he still can't believe that happened. With a soft chuckle he closed his eyes and fell asleep.

"So, tomorrow uh?" Naruto said climbing on the bed to join Sakura who was already on her side of the bed which wasn't very far since the bed was small. It was pretty late, she'd spent most of the evening squeezing Sakura for information about their sensei. "So when did you plan all that? There's no way I will believe that you planned it on the spot."

"Well, I've been planning for us to go out together, you know, because it's been awhile and I miss you what with me at the hospital all the time and you training to be the next hokage, so when the mission came I couldn't help to think of what else we could do during our stay here. I hear the village of waterfall has nice clothes lets check it out tomorrow okay?"

Naruto rolled her eyes, "so now you're asking me?"

"Just so you know, your answer won't change anything."

Naruto smiled, "even if it's a yes?"

Sakura smiled back, "was no ever an option?"

Naruto pretended to think about it then grinned, "with you? No."

Sakura yawned, "I didn't think so." She mumbled her eyes felt heavy, any minutes now she will fall asleep.

Naruto laughed softly, "go to sleep Sakura-chan." She said turning around so she can get some rest herself.

"What are you talking about? I'm already asleep." Sakura said with a smile.

"Oh okay, if you say so. Goodnight Sakura -chan."

"Both of you shut up!" Sasuke growled from his bed causing both girls to giggle. With another growl he threw the pillow on his head. The teme had always liked his beauty sleep.

"Goodnight Naruto." Sakura whispered when they were done laughing. She closed her eyes this time letting herself drift asleep.

Naruto smiled feeling way better than she did the whole day since _that_ happened. She closed her eyes succumbing to sleep, because she knows that she will need all her strength if she wants to keep up with Sakura tomorrow.


	6. Chapter 6

**I want to thank y'all folks for your wonderful reviews, truly I am grateful. You give me the inspiration to write.  
They've been people wondering when Naruto will be pregnant. I can't tell you when without spoiling the story, but what I will tell you is it wont be for awhile. I want to take it slow, I don't want to rush Naruto and Shikamaru's relationship. I'm not an expert on love, but I'm hoping to make this story as real as I can without coming off as cheesy. Just bear with me guys.  
**

 **Okay, with everything said I introduce you chapter 6.**

 **Enjoy!**

* * *

"What do you think of this?"

Naruto looked at the dress that Sakura was holding, it was a strapless dress with a bow around the bust. She shrugged.

Sakura rolled her eyes, "Could you at least pretend that you're enjoying yourself?"

"I stopped pretending four hours ago when you dragged me around every shop we passed. I'm sorry but even I have my limits." She said crossing her arms and turning her head to the side.

"It has not been that long!" Sakura protested, at Naruto's incredulous look she conceded reluctantly. "Okay, maybe it had been that long. But at least it was fun."

"I don't even see the point of all this!" Naruto said throwing her hands in the air in exasperation.

Sakura sighed as if Naruto was a small child that was being difficult. "Lady Tsunade said we needed to investigate while keeping a low profile and you can't do it dressed in your hideous orange shirt and shorts that are twice your size." She sent a meaningful glance at what she was wearing.

"Hey! I like my clothes!" Naruto said offended despite herself. Normally she would just ignore the comment and move on, she never cared much about her appearance or what people thought of it, but with everything that happened recently she's feeling a little low on self-esteem.

She looked down at herself, with her baggy shorts and equally large shirt. Maybe Sakura was right and she needed to make more effort on her appearance. It's not like she didn't have feminine clothes in her closet, in fact her closet was filled with a decent amount of girls clothing that she'd bought during her travel with Jiraiya. She'd never worn them, because she was more comfortable with her loose shirts and baggy pants and sometimes jumpsuit.

No, she shook her head shaking her thoughts with it. She likes her baggy clothes, plus it makes her look less curvy. She'd never admitted it out loud, but she'd always thought she was too curvy in some areas, the memory of the window incident came to mind. It was when Shikamaru had helped her get out of her bathroom window and she'd been only in her towel. Come to think of it, Shikamaru had been acting weird that day, maybe it was her lack of clothing that caused it, that thought strangely made her feel good.

She still had no idea why he'd kissed her, the having sex part she understood because they were both drunk (sort of), but she doesn't understand why he'd kissed her minutes after he apologized. What's confusing her more is the fact that she'd liked it, a lot.

When he'd kissed her, she'd first been surprised then she'd responded with equal enthusiasm, the only reason she'd stopped them from going further was because she didn't want him to apologize for that too (which he still did), being sorry meant you regretted doing something and she didn't regret it. Okay maybe a little part of her does feel bad for what happened, though who can blame her? It's not how she'd imagined her first time with a guy to be, not that she had ever imagined how anytime with a guy would be like, she was never interested in that sort of stuff. She was more interested in training to be strong enough to protect her precious people. But now, she can't stop thinking about it. She was brought out of her thoughts by Sakura, it seems to be a common occurrence lately.

"Look," Sakura said after seeing that Naruto had been quiet for too long, thinking that she'd hurt her feelings or something." I didn't mean it to sound bad, I'm sorry. All I wanted was to take your mind off whatever was bothering you since you won't talk about it and I love you no matter what you wear anyway, okay? It's just, after seeing how good you looked at the party I just think you should wear those more often, but it's fine if you're not interested I understand." Sakura looked down seemingly dejected, she put the dress back and started dragging her feet out the door. Naruto inwardly rolled her eyes.

 _'Yeah right.'_ She thought, ' _As if she will ever let me go that easily.'_

With a defeated sigh, her wallet is going to suffer at this point it's bad enough that they already have three full bags of clothing, she said. "It's fine Sakura-chan, I don't mind."

Sakura stopped but didn't turn around her voice was soft when she said, "Really?"

This time Naruto really did roll her but a smile was tugging on her lips, "Sure, why not? Let's have fun."

Sakura turned around, all signs of sadness disappeared from her face instead she had cheerful grin on her face. "Great!" She said walking over to her and linking their arms together, she dragged her out of the shop. "Let's go check in the next shop. I think I saw something that will look so good on you."

Naruto groaned, but let herself be dragged knowing that this is just Sakura's way of taking care of her. ' _And punishing me for making her worry.'_ she thought with a long suffering expression on her face.

She watched Sakura talk to the saleswoman about what outfit she's looking for. Naruto glanced at her hands that was already full of bags. With another mournful sigh she followed after her friend, hopefully she will live through this torture by the end of the day.

It was another four hours later that Naruto was inspecting herself in front of the full sized mirror. She looked doubtfully at her reflection. She was wearing a pale blue cocktail dress that barely covered her knees with wedges in the same colour that was, thankfully, not very high. Sakura had done her hair up in a tight bun. She wanted to do her makeup too, but Naruto had refused, she couldn't stand the stuff, though she had allowed some cherry-flavored lip gloss.

She glanced over at Sakura who was busy doing her own makeup. She was wearing a yellow sundress with black heels. Naruto glanced back at her reflection, she had to admit that she looked quite good, even though she still thought it was pointless. They're on a mission not a pageant. It's so weird, she thought with a frown, here she is worrying about the mission while Sakura is busy playing dress up. The weird part is she's trying too hard and Naruto doubted that it was all to do with cheering her up. Sakura must have an hidden agenda somewhere and she's just using her to accomplish it, or she was just being an ungrateful ass she thought, with a little twinge of guilt.

"Something wrong?" Sakura asked noticing her expression.

Naruto shook her head still frowning, "You think your plan is going to work?"

"About the mission?" Naruto nodded, "Of course, why wouldn't it work?"

She shrugged, "Won't we attract attention if we all go in?"

"Sasuke isn't coming with us. He's going to investigate outside the restaurant just in case there's a secret door somewhere."

"Do you really think mercenaries go in there?"

Sakura shrugged as she put on some lipstick, "That's what we're going to investigate."

Naruto nodded in understanding. It made sense that she and Sakura go investigate the inside while Sasuke deals with the outside. People often underestimate girls, so there's no way people will suspect two girls of being ninjas, but...

"Hey, shouldn't you be the one investigating inside the restaurant? Being a waitress there will give us lots of advantage." She said remembering their arguments in the hokage's office, the one about her not being 'girly enough', she was still a little peeved about the comment.

Sakura didn't say anything at first as she finished with her makeup, she inspected herself when she was satisfied with herself she turned to Naruto.

"Truthfully, I still feel bad about what I said in Lady Tsunade's office. So I came up with a better solution."

Naruto looked down with a shrugged, "It doesn't bother me, you were right anyway."

Sakura shook her head, "I know it did, or else you wouldn't have come to the party dressed like that."

Naruto clenched her fist behind her back at the reminder of that night, she fought back the blush that was threatening to come up for the umpteenth time since she left Konoha. It's been like that since yesterday, everytime she would think back on what had occurred she would feel her face heat up and an inexplicable feeling will rise within her, feelings she doesn't want to analyse yet afraid of what it would mean.

Forcing herself out of her thoughts, she will deal with them later, she tried to focus on Sakura who was still waiting for her reply. "I guess, I wanted to prove something." She said suddenly tired of the conversation, tired of Sakura worrying about her and tired of feeling confused and embarrassed. Now, all she wanted was to forget the past two days ever happened.

"I'm sorry that I gave you a reason to prove anything. Lady Tsunade was harsh but I should've known better than to say anything."

"Stop beating your head around the issue Sakura-chan. I was kinda annoyed at first, but I'm fine now. My bad mood has nothing to do with that, I promise." She knows that Sakura thinks that whatever is bothering her has something to do with it, in a way it kinda does but she's not one to hold grudges and thinking about the past is always exhausting.

Sakura's relief was obvious, but her brow was still knitted in worry. "Then what's bothering you?"

Naruto shook her head, "I don't want to talk about it."

A flash of hurt passed on Sakura's face it made her feel guilty, but she stubbornly kept her mouth shut. Thankfully Sakura didn't push her. Instead she walked over to give her a hug. Naruto was surprised at first but then relaxed into the embrace. That's the thing with Sakura, she always knows what she needs. They pulled away after a short while. She grinned, suddenly feeling better... and hungry.

"How about we get this mission started?" Sakura asked with a wide smile.

"Yep, I'm famished. Who knew being an emo is so exhausting?" She said skipping her way out of the bathroom. Sakura laughed following her behind.

Sasuke's expression when he saw them was amusing, his eyes widened slightly at the sight of them and if he wasn't Sasuke Uchiha he would have been gawking.

"You like?" Naruto asked spinning around with a flourish of her dress exposing more skin as the dress lifted up.

"What the hell are you wearing?" He hissed in disgust.

"I believe it's called a dress, moron." Naruto said dryly.

Sasuke clenched his teeth in irritation, "We're not going to a bloody brothel."

"Obviously not. Do you think we would need to wear anything if we were?"

Sasuke's cheeks coloured and Naruto smirked in satisfaction at catching him off guard. Sasuke looked at Sakura, who was biting her lips to stop herself from laughing, knowing that all of this is her fault.

"Come on teme," Naruto teased. "Just admit that I look hot."

Sasuke pinched the bridge of his nose, he could feel a headache coming, "Don't be stupid." He said through gritted teeth.

Naruto pouted crossing her arms in front of her chest. "You're no fun."

Sasuke rolled his eyes, "Whatever. We don't have time for this. Take this." He handed them each an earpiece. "To communicate." He said shortly.

Naruto grinned as she took the earpiece from him immediately tucking it in between her voluptuous breast and winked at him. What? It's not like she could put it on her ear since her hair was tied up, it will tip people off. Sasuke looked away in disgust, though the effect was lost because of his red cheeks. Sasuke is such a girl, Naruto's grin widened, teasing him had always been so much fun, though this is the first time he'd reacted like that. Then again, she'd never teased him by flirting with him, if she knew that he'd react like that she would have done it much sooner. She had to admit it feels good to know that Sasuke was actually human, she was starting to worry that Orochi-teme had done something to him with his pedo-freaky experiments. She turned to see Sakura tucking the earpiece behind her her hair, she was sporting a small frown as she watched the exchange.

"Oi, are we going or what?" She said already walking out the door, she wanted to finish this mission as soon as possible.

Sakura rolled her eyes, "Yeah, yeah. Hold your horses." she looked hesitantly back at Sasuke. He was still looking at the door Naruto had disappeared to. She felt a wave of jealousy which she quenched immediately.

Sakura bit her lips and silently turned to follow after Naruto, but before she got to the door he called after her. She glanced back up at him hope blooming at her chest.

"Look after her." he said then added, "I will be in contact."

"Oh. Oh, of course. " She said smiling to hide her disappointment, with that she followed after Naruto and together they made their way to the infamous restaurant.

* * *

Naruto rocked on the balls of her feet as she looked around the restaurant."It looks like a normal restaurant to me."

Sakura nodded in agreement next to her but didn't say anything. She'd real been quiet since they left the inn.

A waitress approached them asking if they needed help. Seeing that Sakura wasn't going to talk anytime soon, she answered. "A table for two please." The waitress bowed and told them to follow her and they did silently.

They sat at a table where they had a good angle of the whole restaurant. Naruto took her menu to peruse at through it. A moment later she scowled throwing it back on the table, crossed her arms in a pout.

"What kind of restaurant is this? They don't have any ramen!"

Naruto frowned when Sakura failed to react at her comment. "What's up with you?"

Sakura shrugged one shoulder, "Nothing." She said quietly as she picked up her own menu.

Naruto squinted her eyes in concern but didn't push it. If Sakura didn't want to talk then she won't pry, after all it was only fair since Sakura did the same for her. "I don't think that whatever we're looking for we're going to find it here." She said quietly instead. She turned to survey the room. It was fairly big for a restaurant, she thought, but it's not like she'd been to many restaurants to know how one is supposed to be except Ichiraku of course, though even that was more of a stand than a restaurant.

A waiter came to take their orders, while he wrote their orders he kept staring unabashedly at her exposed cleavage. Naruto had to fight the urge to cover it up. It's not that she was shy or anything she just doesn't like when people stare at her, she's always hated it. While they waited for their food Naruto distracted herself by looking around the room for clues. She noticed that people were glancing occasionally in their direction. She straightened, thinking that their cover was blown. She only grew weary when a waiter winked at them as he passed by their table.

"Sakura?" She called in a whisper, "Why are they staring at us?"

Sakura blinked from whatever thoughts she'd been in to look around and sure enough people were looking at them, mostly guys and the girls were shooting them glares. They watched in bemusement as their waiter came back with their food, he kept 'accidentally' brushing his hands with Naruto's as he set the food on the table and not once has he looked at her above the chest.

"Hey, keep your hands to yourself you pervert!" Sakura snapped in Naruto's defense, "And your eyes too for that matter, if you don't want me to shove these chopsticks in them!" She added with a growl holding her chopsticks in a menacing way.

The waiter squeaked and hurriedly left them in peace, though that just seemed to have grabbed more attention to themselves. Naruto slumped in her seat groaning, "So much for blending in."

"I guess this was a bad idea after all." Sakura said sheepishly, Naruto sent her a look saying 'you think?' And Sakura sent her a glare. "It's not like your idea was any better."

Naruto thought on her idea to come here leveling the whole restaurant down until they find any illegal dealings. "You've got a point." She conceded with carefree shrugged taking her chopsticks and digging into her grilled chicken.

Sakura rolled her eyes, "Now we have to look for another plan." She said sending a glare to a fool that was brave enough to approach them, he immediately made a U-turn back to his seat.

"If there's any chance of us finding anything it's got to be in that room." Naruto said pointing her chopsticks in the direction where waitress and waiters were going in and out.

Sakura nodded in agreement, "Contact Salowed her food, "Shouldn't you be the one contacting him? I can't just take the communication device out in the open, what happened to being subtle and all?"

suke and tell him we're going to check it out."

Naruto tilted her head in confusion as swal

Sakura looked down, her hands clenching around the chopsticks, "I don't want to talk to him just yet."

Naruto narrowed her eyes, her lips turning down in anger. "Did the teme say something to upset you again?" She asked protectively.

Sakura shook her head, "No, it's not him, it's all me. And I think we already grabbed attention to ourselves, might as well go through with the mission."

Naruto looked at her for a long time before relaxing. "Okay, if you say so." She took out her headset from her breast and put it in her ear. "Hey bastard, change of plans we're taking the head-on approach for the mission."

Sasuke's voice came through, "Hn, already on it." There was a sound of a body hitting something.

"What do you mean you're already on it? And what's that noise?"

Another body hitting something and Sasuke's voice came through with a grunt. "I ran through some trouble, there's a house next to the restaurant, they're connected together, these guys were guarding it." there was a crash, "Look, you guys find the secret door that lead to the basement I will meet you there." There was another crash before the line went dead.

"What is it?" Sakura leaned forward.

"I think he ran through some trouble. He said this restaurant is connected to the house next to it and we should find the door that leads to the basement." Naruto said bewildered, "It sounded like he was fighting."

Sakura banged her forehead on the table cracking it in the process. "Why can't we ever do a mission according to plan?"

"Who cares? I'm just glad we get to finish the mission early." Naruto said wiping her mouth, she stood with a grace that only came from being a ninja, she walked over to what appeared to be the kitchen.

With a sigh Sakura followed after her, ignoring the gaping people in the restaurant, they disappeared in the kitchen behind the curtain.

Naruto squinted against the bright light of the kitchen as she looked around, they walked past waiters and cooks to the end of the kitchen, who gave them a wide berth sensing that they meant business, where they saw a hallway. They followed the narrow hallway straight to a door which said KEEP OUT in big bold red colour. She tried the handle already, sensing no traps behind the door, it was locked. Stepping aside she let Sakura break the door with her fist.

Channeling chakra in her eyes to enhance her eyesight in the dark, she saw that there was a stairwell leading down. "Looks like the teme was right."

"Isn't he always?" Sakura said from behind her. Her voice sounded strange, but Naruto didn't have time to ask, because just then they heard sounds of fighting. They both ran towards the sound, the scene that greeted them was a peculiar one. Sasuke was throwing bodies around like rag dolls. The 'basement' looked more like an underground club than anything.

Naruto spotted a bar where girls dressed as stripers were hiding -well, she thought they were strippers why else would they dress like that- while Sasuke beat men twice his size without breaking a sweat.

"Sasuke, you started without us, shame on you!" Naruto pouted crossing her arms and causing the action to enhance her already large breasts. Everybody stopped what they were doing to stare; Naruto's presence always demanded attention, the good and bad ones.

Sasuke punched the closest guy that was close to him and had the gall to drool in front of him, immediately rendering him unconscious.

Sakura smacked Naruto on the head, "Have some shame, you idiot."

Naruto grinned, she'd always enjoyed getting a rise out of perverts that's why she'd created that sexy jutsu when she was little. Shaking her head out of her amusement, she demanded "So who's in charge here?"

"That would be him." Sasuke pointed to a fat bald guy that was slumped against the wall, unconscious. He grunted as someone managed to get a lucky shot while he was distracted, he twisted the offender's arm the scream of agony music to his ears.

Naruto shook her head in disapproval as she joined the fight catching a thrown kunai with her teeth and throwing it back to the owner catching him on the shoulder. In the corner of her eyes Sakura had joined the fight too. "Sasuke, what have I told you about violence."

Sasuke scowled, "They attacked me first, I was defending myself."

Naruto snorted, "I'm sure." She sidestepped a badly thrown punch kicking the fat guy in the stomach, with a oof, he barrelled to an equally fat guy, both falling back on a table and breaking it. "What are they? Genin?" She asked incredulously.

"Hey! I'm chunin!" The guy that said it was punched a second later courtesy of Sakura. "Yeah, right." She muttered.

"This is ridiculous," Naruto said surveying their damage; there were broken tables everywhere, bodies lying around, lots of them. She counted only twenty people left standing. "How much are they paying us again?"

"Hn." Sasuke said in agreement, "These are not ninjas, they're a joke."

"I can't even use my shadow clones on them!" Naruto whined as she ducked from a sloppy punch.

"Forget about clones, they're not even worth taking out my kunai." Sasuke snorted in disdain.

"Quit complaining you too, you're driving me nuts!" Sakura said from her side of the fight.

"Let's have a spar when we get back home, what do you say?" Naruto asked as she sidestepped a guy that decided using his body as a weapon was a good idea. She backhanded him straight into a whole. Damn, she feels like a bully.

"Hn." Sasuke agreed, "Alright, I'm ending this." He grunted, Naruto jumped behind him followed after Sakura. Sasuke went through some hand seals. The twelve or so missing nin and mercenaries that were left paused uncertainly in front of him unsure of what he was doing. Sasuke smirked at their mistake and threw his hand on the ground, before they knew it, lightning surged from the ground electrocuting them all.

The lightning wasn't large enough to kill them of course. They weren't supposed to kill anyone, just beat them enough so they would run from the village and never return. Although it's not like they can run while unconscious.

The fight only lasted five minutes. The short moment of silence was broken by the stripers that were hiding earlier as they ran out screaming their lungs out.

"Well, that went well." Naruto said sarcastically. "The old hag will be very pissed." She created several shadow clones to help her tie the bodies.

Sakura grimaced at the reminder, she watched as Sasuke walked over to the guy that is supposedly the leader and the owner of the restaurant.

"Can you wake him up?" He asked her and she nodded. She hid her frown as she walked over to him. How can he ask her that? She's a medic, so of course she could do something as simple as waking an unconscious man. The way he asked her is as if he still didn't believe in her ability. She sighed in resignation as she bent over sending a small pulse of chakra with her fingers to the unconscious man immediately waking him with a start.

The man blinked as he tried to focus on them. When he saw Sasuke standing in front of him, he cowed in fear against the wall. "Please don't kill me! I will do anything you want, just don't kill me!" He cried out.

Sasuke looked at him in disgust, he'd always hated weak men. Weakness had no place in this world, he'd learned that the hard way. "Are you Hito Wakashi?"

"Yes-yes sir!"

"You're the owner of this place?"

"I-I..." The man now known as Hito stuttered.

"Answer me!" Sasuke growled.

"Yes!" He squeaked in fear.

Naruto who was done tying the missing nins came to join them. She watched as the man cowed at Sasuke's glare with pity, this guy wouldn't last five minutes in the tsukuyumi, 'Forget five minutes,' she thought. 'He won't even last a full second.' Sasuke was getting frustrated; he'd always hated weak people, though he doesn't realise that not everybody was as strong as him. She put a hand on Sasuke's shoulder an indication that she will take over.

Hito was relieved when he saw the beautiful blonde taking over, but when he looked up and she smiled down at him her crimson eyes gleaming in excitement, he wished that the raven boy had kept asking him questions. In no time he was telling them everything she wanted to know.

...

"And they say you're the nicest of the three of us." Sakura said with a snort later on when they were sitting in front of a bar celebrating their success on the mission.

After Hito had told them everything they needed to know, which turned out to be not as bad like the report suggested. It turned out to be that Hito's restaurant wasn't as successful as he made people believe it was and he had needed extra money to keep his business running. That's when he'd opened the underground suit as it was called, to allow missing nins to gamble all their money off while having some entertainment and cheap drinks. They had gone to report it to the village chief leaving him to handle all those captives, they had done their job. So here they were enjoying their last night in waterfall country with free drinks courtesy of their client. At least the girls were enjoying, Sasuke stayed with their client making sure the captive were dealt with.

Naruto blinked innocently at what Sakura said, "I have no idea of what you're talking about."

Sakura snorted again taking a sip of her drink, her cheeks was tinged pink indicating she'd been drinking for awhile now, "Oh please, you literally made the guy piss in his pants just by smiling at him."

"It wasn't my smile!" Naruto said offended, she took a sip of her own drink which was actually lemonade, though Sakura didn't know that. After what happened with Shikamaru, it will be a long time before Naruto drinks alcohol again. Before her brain could latch onto the train of thought which she didn't want to think about yet. "It's Kurama's eyes that scared him shitless." She snickered.

Sakura shook her head, "No way, it was definitely the smile. I saw it remember? His expression was priceless."

"I can't help that guys find me completely irresistible."

"More like 'horrifyingly irresistible'," Sakura said and they both cracked up.

"I can't believe they were just gamblers though." Naruto said when they were more sober.

Sakura took a swing from her cup already feeling slightly dizzy. "Tell me about it, the way shishou said 'illegal activities' I thought child trafficking was involved somehow."

"I know right," she sighed, "What a waste." She grumbled thinking on what she could have been doing, maybe reading the books the hokage had borrowed her for her training. She inwardly grimaced, she doesn't get why she needs to read anything, it's not like the hag read 'the art of being a great hokage' book, she just took the hat on her head and was promoted hokage or was it the other way around? Whatever, the fact remains that the hag is being unfair by making her study all those notes about politics that's what the advisors are for. Okay, so maybe she was being stupid and she'd get punched through several walls if the hokage ever heard her say all that. That doesn't make reading any less boring. Though it's all going to be worth it at the end, no shortcuts in life after all. She took a sip of her drink.

Sakura glanced around the bar, "Will Sasuke be joining us later?"

"Probably not." Naruto shrugged, turning towards the pink haired girl, "That reminds me, what's up with you and Sasuke? You were acting strange around him tonight."

"Sasuke is a jerk." Sakura grumbled taking another shot of her sake.

"Nothing new there," Naruto said dryly. "What I want to know is, what he did do to piss you off?" Emphasis on the 'you' because Sakura had never been upset with Sasuke. So it's strange that Sakura is actually calling him a jerk.

Sakura didn't say anything for awhile, just when Naruto thought she would need to repeat her question in case Sakura didn't hear her. She whispered in a voice so unlike her. "I'm tired."

Before Naruto could ask what she meant, she clarified. "I'm tired of chasing after him, Naruto." When she looked up Naruto could see unshed tears in her eyes.

"Sakura-" Sakura cut her off before she could say anything.

"Stop telling me to be patient. You're just making excuses for him." Sakura grumbled, she downed the rest of her drink swiping a hand across her mouth, she asked the bartender for more. "I've been patient since I was little, hoping that some day he will..." She clenched her fist looking down, she took a deep breath. "Today when I wore this dress, I was hoping that it would grab his attention somehow. But when he saw me, he barely gave me glance. He was more worried about you. He doesn't see me!" By the end of her sentence, her tears was flowing freely down her chin. "Not the way I want him to see me, anyway."

Naruto was shocked at the revelation, she didn't know that Sakura was still actually in love with the teme and by the sound of it, it sounded serious. She'd always thought that all Sakura wanted from Sasuke was his friendship, not that she thought that they weren't friends, but considering this is Sasuke who's not friendly with anyone and the only reason he tolerates her is because Naruto is persistent.

She watched as Sakura sobbed, helpless to do anything. It's not like she understood what the other girl was going through, she'd never been in love so there's no way for her to relate. Why is it that everyone she knows are having some kind of relationship problems? First Shikamaru and now Sakura. She's not a therapist damn it! If she was, she would have known the answers to her own problem which included the lazy genius.

Sakura took a handkerchief from her purse and blew her nose. She took another sip of her newly filled cup.

"Uhm... Sakura I think you should stop drinking, it's making you stressful." Naruto suggested hopefully, she was surprised that her friend hadn't fallen unconscious yet. Maybe she was using her medical skills to lessen the effect of the alcohol.

"I'm not stressed, do I look stressed to you?" She asked taking a drink for good measures.

"Yeah, kinda." She said hesitantly, she hated seeing her friend like this. She contemplated finding Sasuke and beating him into apologizing to Sakura, but threw the idea away. It's not like it's Sasuke's fault that Sakura decided to fall for him. If she remembered correctly, Sasuke had rejected Sakura's advances countless times, but then again that was when they were still genin, maybe he'd change his mind. Though, she doubted that was the case or else Sakura wouldn't be upset right now. She inwardly cursed at being put in this situation.

"Did you tell him?"

Sakura shook her head in the negative. "I don't see the point. I will get rejected anyways."

"So what are you going to do then?"

"I don't know. All I know is, I don't want to chase after him anymore."

Naruto just nodded in understanding, trying hard and failing to imagine herself falling in love with anyone. Not that she wants to fall in love, that's just calling for a headache.

Sakura squinted her eyes. "You're not going to say anything?"

Naruto shrugged. "What do you want me to say? It's your decision."

"I don't know, I thought you would stop me, tell me to never give up or something like that."

Sakura was looking at her and Naruto realized that she was hoping that Naruto would stop her, that she would tell her somehow that everything will turn out okay, that she should just be patient with Sasuke. But Naruto can't do it, that would be lying, one thing Naruto hated doing was lying to the people that was precious to her.

"Sakura I'm not going to lie to you, but I think you should get over him. If Sasuke is not interested like you said, it's unlikely that he will ever be. It will just be best for you to not get your hopes up." It was probably harsh, but Sakura needed to stop hurting herself over something that might never happen.

Sakura frowned down at her drink, "Ino told me the same thing." She downed the rest of her drink with one gulp feeling light headed now, maybe it was time she stopped drinking.

"Sasuke is probably asexual anyway, so I don't think he will settle down with anyone." She joked to lighten the mood, she felt a little guilty for what she said.

Sakura didn't smile, she looked at Naruto with her frown still in place. "I wouldn't be so sure about that."

"Eh! You know something I don't?" Naruto leaned in, excited despite herself at the possibility of Sasuke being interested in any girl. That girl must be something if she actually caught her bastard of a best friend's attention.

Sakura shook her head feeling the world tilt at the same time. Naruto grabbed her to stop her from falling. "Don't tell me you haven't noticed." She said her words coming out in a slur. When Naruto shook her head, excited grin in place she rolled her eyes, "You're so dumb sometimes."

Naruto scowled, "You don't need to insult me, just tell me already!"

Sakura shifted in her seat towards her, "Okay, let me put it for you this way. Who would you say is Sasuke's closest friend?"

"Me, but I don't get what that has to do with anything." Naruto said brows drawing in confusion.

Sakura would have hit her head on the table if she didn't think it was going to be bad idea, since she was very drunk. "Who does Sasuke care about more than anyone in the village? Who does Sasuke talk to? Who do you think Sasuke is likely to take interest in?" She waited until realisation dawn on Naruto's pretty face.

"Me?" Naruto asked incredulously, "That's impossible, Sasuke is like a brother to me." The idea of Sasuke liking her more than in a platonic way seems so ridiculous.

"Doesn't mean you're like a sister to him." Sakura gave her a bored look. She motioned the bartender for more.

Naruto shook her head, "Okay, so let's say the teme likes me in that way. You're telling me it doesn't bother you?" She asked dubiously.

"Of course it bothers me, but if I had to lose Sasuke to anyone I'd rather it'd be you." Sakura shrugged, downing her drink in one go.

Naruto was too confused to notice her friend drowning in alcohol. One moment Sakura is upset about Sasuke's lack of interest in her the next she wants to get over him, and now she's telling Naruto that Sasuke might like her in a more than friends way. 'Maybe Sakura is on her period?' She wondered, that could be the only explanation for Sakura's odd behaviour. Now that she'd said it Naruto can't help but think about it and questioning Sasuke's behaviour too.

Could it be true? Could it be that Sasuke Uchiha, her fun-to-irk best friend has feelings for her? The thought surprisingly doesn't appeal to her that much. It was just weird, almost like Konohamaru liking her more than in a sisterly way, gross.

She shook her head in annoyance, there's no way that it's true. Why had Sakura told her anyway? She was fine being oblivious to the definitely-untrue- fact. How is she supposed to act around him now without feeling awkward? Naruto sent a glare to Sakura but the look went unnoticed by the pink haired girl who was almost ready to pass out from the alcohol.

Naruto rolled her eyes, with a sigh she stood up taking Sakura's hand and putting it around her shoulder to support her, together they made their way out of the bar with Sakura stumbling on her feet. Luckily their inn was just two blocks from here.

"This is unbefitting of a lady, Sakura-chan." Naruto said as she dragged a muttering Sakura in the inn lobby. "Just pray Sasuke isn't in yet. We'd hate for you to embarrass yourself in front of him." She teased.

"Sas'ke can kish my ash." Sakura slurred.

Naruto snickered as she kicked the door of their room open. "Well, that's not what you're going to say tomorrow when you wake up and you're more sober."

Luckily Sasuke wasn't in the room, she sighed in relief. She didn't know how to explain Sakura's state, and she had a feeling that Sakura would kill if she were to tell Sasuke about her still ongoing crush. In her opinion, Sakura should just tell him so or better yet get over him.

She dragged Sakura towards the bed, Sakura's body slumped forward causing them both to fall over the bed. She stared at the ceiling in disbelief as she felt Sakura's heavy breathing on top of her. The pink haired girl had fallen asleep, Naruto groaned at her luck. After a short moment of struggling to remove her friend from on top of her, she sat up straight on the bed. She mumbled curses as she removed Sakura's shoes and helped her get properly on the bed.

Sakura groaned, rolling over to the other side of the bed. With an annoyed huff, she stopped her from rolling too far off, Sakura groaned again but didn't move further. Naruto watched her sleep for a while contemplating whether she should take off Sakura's dress too, but decided not to. Sakura will survive probably, and it's not like the dress was tight or anything so it shouldn't be a problem.

Naruto climbed on the bed, too tired to undress herself, she covered them both with the thin sheet the inn provided them with. Good thing that the weather was a warm one.

She sighed as she stared up the ceiling, now that she wasn't distracted by anything or anyone. she decided on what to do when they got back to the village, regarding Shikamaru.

Now that she wasn't clouded by anger and embarrassment, she had to admit that she might have overreacted a little when she'd punched him. If she had to look at things in his point of view- which she did- she could sort of understand him. He had probably been angry, frustrated, confused and maybe guilty too, all the things she'd been feeling since she'd woken up in his room that morning. It's not like he wasn't right anyway, she had been making a big deal out of it, surely she wasn't the first girl to lose her virginity in this world and she wouldn't be the last and isn't it better that it happened with someone she actually knows than whoever she will have to marry in the future?

Yeah right, who is she kidding? It is a big deal, at least to her. Not in her 18 years of life did she ever imagined that she will ever have sex, with Shikamaru no less. She didn't even know what sex was before that day! Okay that was a lie, she conceded, she knew what sex was (thanks to Jiraiya and pervert ways- and it doesn't help that he'd once decided to give her SexEd during their travel, an embarrassing day that was), she just didn't know what having sex was like... Until two days ago.

Sex, she had to admit wasn't anything she had expected -not that she actually expected anything since she'd never really thought about it- it was a waste of time thinking about it, training and sparring with Sasuke and anyone that was willing to give her a challenge was more her thing. But now that she'd actually done it, she couldn't bring herself to regret that night even if she tried. She couldn't remember the night clearly, but she could still remember the way she'd felt. The exhilaration she'd felt, the sparks she'd experienced with every touch, seeing the same lust-filled-longing in his eyes that she was feeling, she'd felt special and strangely enough powerful. The power to make someone like Shikamaru lose his usual bored disinterested expression and to make him feel something other than laziness. It's that feeling that kept her wanting more, even now as she stared at the ceiling with Sakura snoring softly next to her, she felt an inexplicable feeling of longing towards the lazy genius.

Naruto frowned at that line of thinking, _'stupid hormones._ ' Shikamaru was right though, whatever happened between them should never have happened and it can never happen for both their sake and -at this she swallowed with guilt- Temari's sake. Things might be awkward between them at first but hopefully with time they could learn to get past it. She might still be angry and a bit ashamed, but that didn't mean she wanted to lose his friendship, that's why she's going to apologize to him as soon as she gets back. With that she turned making herself comfortable, she needed to get some rest.

Just when she was about to drift off, she heard Sasuke get in the room, he smelled of sweat and blood indicating that he'd probably been training. If she wasn't so tired she would have been indignant that he didn't invite her, but as it was she was too tired she would have to deal with him tomorrow. With that, she gave in to the exhaustion she felt, thinking too much always made her tired.

* * *

Shikamaru yawned as he made his way to the Nara compound. He closed his eyes to bask in the early morning sun, enjoying the morning peace of the village while it lasted. He walked past shopkeepers who were opening their shops for the day, the street was filled with early risers as they slowly started their day.

He nodded in greeting at some villagers. He passed a drunk man who laid passed out on a bench. He glanced at the man with envy wishing that he could be asleep too, but alas, that wasn't to be. He'd promised his mother that they would have breakfast together today, after she'd complained that she doesn't see him anymore since he moved out.

He'd moved out when he and Temari had started dating, he'd wanted privacy for whenever she came to visit. He'd also wanted a break from his mother's nagging, not that she doesn't nag him anymore. In fact he doesn't think distance is enough to stop Yoshino Nara from being a troublesome woman. Nobody can stop his mother from having her own way, not even his father could.

He briefly wonders how she will react to the news of his break up. At this his lip turned down into a slight frown.

He'd been thinking a lot about everything that happened recently after the break up. Temari, Naruto and that night. For some reason he kept replaying what happened, as in everything that happened. It seems so surreal, not in a million years could he have imagined he and Naruto doing anything together that isn't mission related except for the occasional get together with the rest of the Konoha 12.

Now that he wasn't panicking and hungover, he could remember the whole thing and he had to admit that it wasn't bad, in fact he'd enjoyed the whole thing and that's the problem. Sex with Naruto shouldn't have been enjoyable, the idea should have been enough to make him gag. Yet, he couldn't stop his body from reacting to the memory of her laying naked under him, of her adorable blush every time he scrutinized her body with hunger. And there's the matter of the kiss the following morning, he still had no idea why he'd done it except that she'd looked inviting standing in front of him covered in sheet embarrassment and frustration playing on her face, he didn't think he'd just acted on his impulse which is so unusual because he never act on impulse like ever, he always like to think of his moves beforehand, up until that day his moves had always been calculated. It's like Naruto had managed to make him forget how to be rational.

The whole ordeal made him curious and wary. He is still struggling to understand what had happened, he get it that he was drunk and hurt about his break up with Temari and Naruto had been there listening to him and she hadn't judged him about him not marrying Temari even though he loved her, so maybe that's why he'd let his control slip with Naruto to forget his problems. But, what about Naruto? The Kyuubi should have kept her from being too drunk so she doesn't even have that has a reason. He was still confused as to why she hadn't stopped them from getting too far, he would have stopped if she had said no, drunk or not.

He narrowed his eyes in thought as something occurred to him. Her getting upset that morning, could it be that it didn't have to do with him kissing her and to do with him apologizing about it? But why? He refused to think that Naruto somehow wanted all of it to happen, it would be too ridiculous. So why does a little part of him feel disappointed?

He shook his head to rid himself of those thoughts. What happened between them should never repeat itself for various reasons, one of those being that he just broke up with Temari and he still loved her. It wouldn't be fair to the both of them if something were to occur between them.

There's something else that has been bugging him. Naruto had managed to surprise him that night by acting more matured when he'd told her about Temari. She'd been a good listener, a huge contrast to the loud girl she's always portraying. That spiked his curiosity making him want to know what else she's been hiding.

"How troublesome." He muttered, oh how he wished he could smoke right now, but his mother would kill him if she smelled cigarettes on him. He shoved his hands in his pockets instead as he walked through the gates of the Nara clan, greeting the two guards standing there.

He'd spent the whole night thinking of their (his and Naruto's) conversation too and he had to admit that he could've worded the things he'd said better. He recognized that he had been a jerk, okay he had been a massive jerk and as soon as she returned from her mission he would talk to her and apologize but this time he would do it right, it's the least he could do. He realized that telling her to pretend like nothing ever happened was a dick thing to say. It was her first time, to girls that's a very big deal and Naruto obviously wasn't any different. Hopefully the next time they see each other things won't be too awkward for them, but then again that is just wishful thinking. He shook his head to get rid of his thoughts as he approached the main household.

When he arrived, he slid the shoji doors open and went in leaving his sandals by the door. He could hear his mother's voice coming from the kitchen. He followed it, he was surprised to find his mother singing as she put plates of food on the table. He hasn't heard his mother sing since... in a long time. He watched in amusement as his mother did some jiggle danced.

When she spun and saw him, her eyes lit up in surprised.

"Shikamaru!" His mother exclaimed happily, not the least bit ashamed that he caught her. "I missed you." she said as she walked over to give him a kiss on the cheek and a hug.

She grabbed his chin and narrowed her eyes as she looked him over, luckily the bruise Naruto had given him disappeared or answering her would have been uncomfortable. "You look too thin and you should sleep more." She said critically after making sure he didn't have any physical injury.

"Hey, mom." He said enduring his mother's fussing. "How are you?"

"Good, good!" She chirped cheerfully, she returned to the stove humming under her breath. "Sit down, I'm almost done. I will join in a second."

"Somebody is in a good mood." He commented as he took a seat on the table.

"Oh, you could say things are looking up." His mother said joining him with a plate full of bacon, she avoided his eyes but still had a smile on her face.

He raised an eyebrow, but didn't comment. Though, he hadn't miss the smell of perfume on her and the fact that she was wearing make up. It was nice seeing her happy.

She hadn't been this happy since his father died during the war. Seeing her like that was nice, she deserved to be happy.

"So tell me, how are things going with you?" She asked taking a sip of her tea.

Shikamaru took a second to think about what to say, he'd rather not spoil his mother's mood by telling her of his break up. And it's not like they're going to stay broken up for long anyway. He planned to get some answers, he'd requested an audience with the hokage. He just needed to know why Suna was trying to pressure one of its shinobi into marrying-Konoha and Suna are on pretty good terms, in fact they are on the best terms considering the Kazekage is best friends with Naruto. He was hoping the hokage might fill him in on that, as one of Konoha's advisor he needed to be aware of political things. But that is for a later time, right now his mother was still waiting for a reply.

He shrugged deciding to be half truthful, his mother can be quite perceptive when she wants to. The perks of being a Nara, he supposed. "Everything is good, except for a couple things that hadn't gone my way."

His mother looked at him in concern, "Nothing bad I hope."

"Nothing I can't handle." He said taking a bite of his bread. "How's everything going on with you?" He said before she could ask any more questions or worse pick up on the fact that he's hiding something and force him to spill everything.

His mother seemed surprised by the change of topic, but brightened up immediately as she recounted everything that has been going on around her.

His mother must have realized that he wasn't up to talking, because she spent most of the time talking about everything she's heard and seen. His mother was big on gossip, it still surprises him sometimes how much she knew about everyone. Apparently one of his distant relative was caught cheating on his wife with a much younger woman, 'What a douchebag,' he thought in disdain.

When he was done, he took his plate to the sink where his mother was already busy washing.

"By the way," his mother said when he was ready to leave. "I saw one of the clan elders yesterday on my way to the market."

Shikamaru tensed, but didn't give any other outward expression. He shoved his hands in his pocket.

"He wanted to know when you're planning on taking the title."

He shrugged, "Not anytime soon." He said making his way out the kitchen.

His mother sighed as she followed after him, "You cannot run away from your duties forever."

"I'm not running away, mom." He said wearing his shoes by the front door, "I'm merely postponing it, until I feel that I'm ready."

Yoshino sighed again, but didn't push it, her son can be stubborn when he wants to be. Instead, she walked over to give him a kiss on the cheek. "Okay, just as long as you don't take too long. Take care of yourself."

"Bye, mom." Shikamaru said as he opened the shoji doors. With a last wave he made his way to the hokage tower.

As soon as he was out of the compound, he took out a cigarette and put it on his lips. As he felt the smoke in his throat, he allowed his displeasure to show on his face as he thought on his mother's words. He wasn't running away from his duty, he just didn't see the rush in becoming clan head so soon. He was already one of the hokage's advisors, and all of his friends that are clan heirs were still being trained by their parents. He sighed, taking another drag of his cigarette blowing the smoke out of his nose, he knew that he was being unreasonable. He also knew the reason they're pressuring him was that unlike the others his father was dead so it was up to him to take up on the title, except Ino but she's... Well, she's a girl and her clan is not that big anyway, who ever she married would take the title if she didn't want it.

Shikamaru sidestepped a couple of boys running in the direction of the academy. He smiled slightly at that his mood lifting a bit, at least some things were going right. This year more had children enrolled in the academy, all with a goal to be the best ninja they could be, which was good. The children are the kings of Konoha.

His eyes drifted up to the sky, and to his delight there were clouds up. He sighed wistfully as he looked back down to the road that led to the hokage tower with the promise of going to his favourite cloud watching spot. He heard a familiar voice call his name. He turned to see Ino waving at him to wait. He resisted the urge to curse as she approached him, just when he thought that life couldn't get any worse they send him Ino to deal with. 'how troublesome' he bemoaned taking a last drag of his cigarette before letting it fall and stamping on it.

"I saw that." Ino said as she caught up to him, he grunted in response as he resumed walking. And that just seemed to set her off into a rant of how dangerous smoking can be, he rolled his eyes when she wasn't looking-because experience told him it was never a good idea to do it in front of her-apparently she wasn't mad at him anymore for the other day seeing as she wasn't ignoring him.

"So," she said after she was done. "Where are you off to?"

"Hokage."

"Oh? I was just on my way to the hospital to get something."

"The hospital is that way." He pointed to the street they just passed.

"I know, but I saw you walking and decided to let you know that I'm not mad anymore."

"I figured." He said blandly shoving his hands in his pocket.

"Yeah, well don't be an ass about it." She grumbled sending him a sideways glare.

They walked quietly for awhile, Ino kept shooting glances at him. He could almost feel the question wanting to burst out of her mouth. After another minute it seemed she'd given up keeping quiet.

"So what are you going to do about Temari?"

"I need to find out what's going on first." He said with a shrug, "If the council is involved, the hokage is bound to know something."

Ino nodded as they turned a corner, her face pensive. "I still can't believe she broke up with you." She said, disbelief evident on her face. "Poor Temari, I can't begin to imagine how she feels."

He held back a grimace, he felt a bit bad for handling things the way he did. His father would have been very disappointed in him. He had been taught to always think things through before acting, to be aware of the thoughts he is thinking, separate them from the situation which is always neutral. But that day, when Temari had come to tell him about the council, he'd said he wasn't ready and that he was going to find a solution to get her out of that situation, he'd even proposed to go to the hokage she would know what to do, but Temari had refused accusing him of not loving her and of being a coward and that's when he'd lost it and said that the only reason she was upset was because he didn't want to be tied down to her. The revelation had shocked the both of them, him because he hadn't planned on saying that aloud, his outburst had shocked him. And her probably for what he'd said which surprisingly had been kind of true. The next thing he knew she was leaving telling him it was over between them.

He had stood in his room frozen in shock and disbelief. When the shock had left him, he'd paced in his room wondering what the hell had just happened. What he'd said had disturbed him greatly, not only because he had said it without thinking but because he realized that marrying Temari had never entered his mind. He love her yes, of that he had no doubt, but the thought of marrying her had never once passed through his mind which is weird since he always thought of everything. After thinking about it for several minutes, he'd made a decision to let her cool down first, he would request a mission to Suna so they will talk it out like rational beings. Thinking on it, maybe he'd made a mistake, maybe he should have run after her. He was brought out of his thoughts by Ino's voice.

"That looks like team 7."

He looked up to see where she was pointing at and he could see three people walking ahead of them. With Sakura's unmistakable colour hair, she was walking at the back of her teammates (she's the only one he allowed himself to look at) it seems they were going to the hokage tower too, probably to give in their mission report. He cursed quickly thinking on different ways he could escape the situation without tipping Ino off, but it was already too late as said girl started calling for Sakura at the top of her lungs.

"Hey, forehead!" Ino called waving when Sakura stopped to look back, eventually stopping the rest of her team too. This time he did curse aloud and Ino gave him a funny look. "What's wrong with you?" But didn't wait for him to answer, "Come on. Let's catch up to them." She said grabbing his hand and pulling him to go faster.

He groaned aloud, already wanting another cigarette. When they got close, he braced himself to look at her. He felt like someone pushed him the way his breath caught in his throat, he had to stop himself from gaping and the only reason he managed was because he could feel the Uchiha glaring at him. Naruto was wearing a blue flower dress that barely covered her thighs, he had to keep from staring at her tan legs, they were nice legs he realized. Her hair was tied in a ponytail on top of her head, showing her heart shaped face. Normally she had her bangs covering the side of her face. She was carrying a huge plastic bag, more clothes maybe?

She looked so beautiful, that even passers-byes were making a double take in surprise. But she didn't seem to notice, she was too busy looking down on the ground, with a small frown pulling down on her lips. She kept glancing nervously between Sakura and Sasuke. He hoped it wasn't because of him, but as he looked at the rest of her team, he could see that they had similar expression on their faces, though, Sakura's was more tired and wary.

"What's up forehead? You look like shit." Ino said stopping in front of her best friend/rival. Sakura did look like shit, her hair was in disarray, her dress had creases on it, her eyes sported shadows under them. "Hi Sasuke- whoa! Naruto, is that you?." Ino asked, her eyes wide in surprise.

Naruto gave a weak smile. "Hey Ino." She turned to him but didn't meet his eyes. "Hi Shikamaru."

He gave a lazy wave in her direction, as he tried to get himself under control, he didn't understand his reaction to seeing her. So what if she looked good in that dress? It shouldn't surprise him, considering he now knew what a killer body she was always hiding under those baggy clothes of hers. Personally he preferred this look better and- wait, what? He shook his head of unwanted thoughts.

"You look amazing!" Ino exclaimed, "And I love your dress."

"You really think so?" Naruto asked scratching the back of her head in embarrassment.

Ino nodded, "Definitely. It's a huge improvement from that horrible jump suit of you used to wear."

"Shut up, pig." Sakura growled under her breath, she was the only one who was allowed to insult Naruto's clothing.

"Somebody woke up on the wrong side of the bed." Ino said as they all resumed walking. "What got you so pissed off?"

"Ino, shut up." He groaned taking out a cigarette and putting it on his lips.

Sakura smiled gratefully while Ino sent him a glare. Naruto only sent him a sideways frown at his cigarette.

"So where are you guys off to?" Sakura asked.

"The hokage, I need to speak to her about something. I don't know where she's going." He said pointing at Ino who stuck her tongue at him, they've long passed the hospital already.

"I'm going to drop you, Sakura, so that we can go to the hospital together."

Naruto who was uncharacteristically quiet piped up. "Sakura-Chan, I think you should go home, you don't look so well. Sasuke and I can handle the mission report."

Sakura waved her hand dismissively. "It's just a headache, Naruto. Nothing to worry about."

Ino peered at her best friend, before a grin appeared on her face. "You have a hangover!" She exclaimed loudly and Sakura winced since she was walking close to her. "I can't believe you would drink during a mission, you miss goody-two-shoes." She laughed.

"Actually, it was after we finished the mission we decided to celebrate." Naruto said taking defense on Sakura's part. She has yet to look at him since they started walking, for some reason it irked him even though he'd anticipated it. He tried to tell himself that it was because she was making it obvious and that he just didn't want anyone suspecting them.

"Technically, a mission isn't done until you report it to the hokage." He said in a bland tone, trying to gauge her reaction, now she can't ignore him without making it more obvious.

There was a short pause in which her eyes met his and some emotion flashed in hers before she quickly looked away her cheeks tinting pink, she waved her hand dismissively.

"You sound like Kakashi-sensei." She mumbled.

He shrugged taking a drag of his cigarette, he ignored Uchiha's look of disgust as he let the smoke out of his nose. They had already arrived at the hokage tower, Naruto greeted the two guards at the entrance with her usual enthusiasm. He watched with half lidded eyes as she bounced her way to the hokage's office, her dress going up with each bounce. It seemed that even the people in the hokage tower were shocked to see her dressed in something that wasn't orange, because they kept stopping to stare with their mouths hanging open.

"Obaa-Chan!" She exclaimed as she kicked the door open dodging the stapler that was thrown her way, Uchiha caught it in one hand before it could hit him, Naruto smiled sheepishly and he rolled his eyes at her.

"Brat, what have I told you about showing me some damn respect?"

Naruto wave her hands dismissively, "Yeah, yeah, whatever old hag."

Tsunade rubbed her temples in irritation. "What do you want?"

"Team seven reporting for a mission accomplished." She said in a mock salute with a cheeky grin on her face.

The hokage looked at him with a raised eyebrow. "And you?"

He shrugged, "I have an appointment."

Tsunade glared at him, a vein pulsing. "I will not tolerate smoking in my office." She ground out.

Shikamaru paled. He dropped his cigarette immediately unless he wanted to get punched through the wall. Ino snickered at his expense behind him.

The hokage took team seven's report and read it after a moment of silence, she groaned rubbing the bridge of her nose.

"Can't you people ever do a mission right?"

Sasuke turned his head away like he couldn't care less about what was going on in the office. Sakura looked embarrassed and Naruto was still grinning like an idiot. Strange that now she was acting more like herself.

"When you make a plan you follow through with it. I told you people to be subtle about it." The hokage was lecturing them, when something caught her eyes. "What the hell is this? You did a shopping trip during a mission?"

Naruto not so subtly tried to hide all her bags behind her.

"It was so that we could blend in!" Sakura defended weakly.

"Yes, and look how that turned out?" She turned to the Uchiha. "I can't believe you allowed that to happen."

"It got the mission done." He said with a shrug.

The hokage snorted, with a sigh she shook her head. "Whatever, take your money and get out of my office."

Team seven gladly did so, Sakura and Ino were already out of the door followed by Sasuke. Before Naruto could go through, the hokage stopped her. He watched with interest as she handed Naruto a bunch of envelopes. Naruto hesitated before taking them. When she turned her eyes briefly met his an embarrassed blush could be spotted on her cheeks, for the second time that day he felt his heart stop momentarily before it picked up again when she dropped her gaze. With a mumbled bye she walked past him and out the door.

He let out a breath, wondering as to what was happening to him. He quickly shook himself, he needed to be focus for the conversation he was about to have with the hokage.

He walked further in the office to stand in front of the desk and waited.

The Godaime gestured to the seat next to him and folded her arms on the desk, she watched as he sat down.

"So, what can I do for you?"

He took a deep breath, he was getting tired of repeating the same story, hopefully this will be the last time.

...

"I see." The hokage said, expression thoughtful.

Shikamaru waited calmly, he'd told the hokage about his break up (not everything of course), and she'd been surprised and maybe a little angry. She'd been even more shocked to hear that Suna was planning to strengthen their alliance by trying to marry one of her shinobi with theirs. But he had his doubts about this whole alliance thing, he'd been thinking a lot about it since that day.

There's no way they would've sent Temari if it was an official order. They would've needed to first agree with the hokage before any decision was to be made and judging by the hokage's it seems she was not aware of anything. So that means that Temari was acting alone, but why?

"That's the first I've hear about it." The hokage said drawing him out of his thoughts and confirming his suspicions. "Can't say I'm surprised though, she is the Kazekage's sister."

Shikamaru shook his head, "But, I don't get it. What about the whole alliance thing?"

The hokage shrugged leaning back on her chair. "As far as I know the alliance between Suna and Konoha has never been stronger thanks to the Kazekage and our favorite orange loving blond."

Shikamaru frowned in thought ignoring the slight flutter at the mention of Naruto. He'd already worked all that out, the hokage's words just confirmed his suspicions.

"Look," the hokage said drawing him out of his thoughts. "I will look into it, it probably has nothing to do with you and the alliance and more to do with the fact that being that she's the Kazekage's sister and a powerful kunoichi."

Shikamaru nodded in understanding, already knowing what the hokage meant. Temari was powerful, surely any offspring of hers will be strong too, a great asset for the village; and as the Kazekage's sister she has obligations and duties to her village. Does this mean she will be forced to marry someone else? He didn't like the fact that she was being forced into marrying anyone and he voiced his concerned.

The hokage shrugged again, unconcerned. "There's nothing I can do about it, that's Suna's problem." But then added, "If you want, I can grant you leave so you can go talk to her."

"Thank you hokage-sama I really appreciate it, but I would like to wait a few more days if you don't mind." Keeping the reason to himself, after all, he can't tell the hokage that he was planning on apologizing to her surrogate daughter first, she would want to know why.

The hokage raised an eyebrow but didn't comment, instead she took a pen and started scribbling on the stack of papers on her desk. "Fine with me. I will call for you when I find anything."

Taking that as his cue to leave, he stood up from the chair bowing slightly to her with another thanks, he turned and made his way out of the door.

When he was out of the hokage tower, he yawned, stretching his muscles. It was always exhausting to be in the presence of the hokage. He always felt like any wrong movement might send him through a wall courtesy of one of her infamous punches. He'd never experienced it, but just watching her use it on tables daily is enough to make him wary. He glanced up and saw that the clouds were still there. And made his way to his usual cloud watching spot with the intention of catching up on a little sleep.

* * *

 **From here on the story get's interesting, you guys probably noticed that the length of the chapters are increasing that's because I'm getting used to this writing business. Thanks again for taking your time to read this story. Please don't forget to tell me what you think. Any constructive criticism is welcomed.**

 **Thanks to my two betas... Shikilove and the many masked identity for their wonderful help.**

 **Until next time!**


	7. Chapter 7

Naruto frowned at the envelopes she was carrying as she walked up the stairs of her apartment.

It was letters the hokage had given her, they were from possible 'suitors' as the old hag liked to call them. _'_ _Y_ _eah, right.'_ Naruto thought with a scowl as she opened the door of her little apartment. Bullshit is what she believed it was. Since the war had ended, she'd been receiving a lot of letters from various people all of them wanting to meet her, some of them even going as far as proposing to marry her, Sakura often joked of how Naruto's wish of being acknowledged had gotten her lots of fans instead. As if she would want a bunch of strangers sending her love letters, come on, she'd never even met most of them!

She dropped her shopping bags on the floor as she jumped on her lumpy bed. Today had been a trying day for her. The walk to the village had been so silent and awkward because apparently Sakura had remembered her little breakdown in the bar. Coupled with her hangover, she'd been grumpy the whole way back to the village bossing Naruto more than usual she refused to even acknowledge Sasuke, but to be fair, the bastard didn't even notice. Though, he seemed to notice that Naruto hadn't tried to fight with him as much as usual by the way he kept sending her inquisitive looks. What Sakura had told her had weirded her out, she just hadn't known how to act with Sasuke with the knowledge that he might like her.

She felt a little guilty turning his offer for a spar down, but at the time she had other more embarrassing things in mind.

Naruto groaned covering her face with her hands. When she'd seen Shikamaru, she'd been assaulted with memories of that night. She could barely look at him without blushing, she'd felt such a strong pulse between them she was surprised that he didn't feel it too.

She hadn't expected to see him so soon after she got back. She'd thought she would have a few days to prepare before she could go and apologize for punching him and forgive him for being an asshole, then they could get past this whole mess, because she was getting tired of thinking about it. Thinking was never her strong suit. But now, she realized getting passed the whole thing wouldn't be so easy.

Just looking at him had been hard to do without her face burning, how is she supposed to act like nothing ever happened between them? Plus, there was the feeling that she had when her eyes met his. It was like she was in his room all over again, him looking at her with that same hungry look. She'd felt that same warm feeling of joy and power and a little confusion- because she doesn't understand why would someone like Shikamaru would look at her like she was the most desirable person he'd ever seen. No one had ever looked at her like that before, and it was nice even though he'd been drunk that night (and hungover the next morning) and he had probably thought he was looking at Temari. But today -and that's what is confusing her- Shikamaru hadn't been drunk yet she'd caught the same hunger and appreciation in his eyes. She was lost as to what to make of it.

On one side it is nice that someone finally acknowledged that she's a woman now and not the same little tomboy she'd been when she was twelve, so maybe Sakura had been right to make her buy all those clothes -but hell would have to freeze over before she admits it out loud to her! Anyway, on the other hand this is Shikamaru, who is a good friend of hers, and who -she kept reminding herself - had just broken up with Temari who he still loved very much and who was Gaara's sister for crying out loud! He would be devastated if he learned of what they'd done -or murderous in Shikamaru's case- but the point was, it is wrong on so many levels. He shouldn't be looking at her like she was a piece of chicken he'd like to devour (not that anyone could ever look at her like a piece of anything), and she shouldn't be feeling happy about it.

He was probably just confused anyway, maybe his break up had left him conflicted and he thought she was Temari because they're both blonde? Unlikely but that's the only explanation she could think of. But what if he wasn't conflicted? And the reason he was looking at her like that was because he... She shook her head off the wishful thinking, there's no way he could harbour any kind of feelings for her, he thought she was annoying.

Bah, nothing can be done about it and it's not like she wants to have any kind of relationship with him (or anyone) anyway. She has to train to become hokage and she has no time for romance. But she would still need to talk to him though, about it so she could put it behind her. With that, she got up from the bed. All that thinking made her hungry.

She opened the small fridge in her living room to find that there wasn't anything to eat, well except the milk which she is sure to be expired by now. She looked around and grimaced at the sight of her dirty apartment, there was a sink full of dirty plates. How the hell does a person that lives alone mess up so many plates? Clothes laid on her couch haphazardly, she ran her finger on the top shelf and inspected it, at least there wasn't too much dust, she thought. Ah well, she'd just have to clean it when she gets back from the grocery store. She grabbed her Gama-Chan from the bed stand and walked out the door ignoring the snotty landlady that opened her curtains to glare at her as she walked passed her door.

For some people it's just hard to forget about the kyuubi attack. With a shrug and a sunny smile, she walked into town. Her smile widened when some shop keepers greeted her with smiles of their own. She's glad that only a few people still harbour a grudge against her about the kyuubi. The majority having recognized her as a great ninja and awesome kunoichi 'ttebayo! She laughed at her verbal tic that she so rarely used nowadays, having grown out of it.

She whistled as she made her way through aisles of food picking what she needed for the new recipe she'd managed to ask the chief at the restaurant in the Land of Waterfalls. For some reason she'd taken up cooking as a hobby.

Sometimes she would try to make her own recipe, it sucked not having anyone to taste her food so there was no way she could know if she was improving. Though Iruka-sensei had tried to convince her that she was getting better than he'd expected -thanks for the vote of confidence sensei!- the last time she'd made him taste (read: Eat) one of her cuisine. Her interest in cooking had been totally accidental. It was during a mission with Sasuke they'd stopped in a small village just out of Fire Country's border to eat something, to her displeasure the ramen there had tasted like crap, she'd complained about it to Sasuke, but the teme had just rolled his eyes at her and told her, _"it's not like you can do any better, you probably wouldn't know what to do with a pot and a spoon if it was staring at you in the face."_ She probably would have dismissed his comment, after all it was true that she couldn't cook, but then he went and gave her one of his superior sneer that she hated so much, the one that says "I'm-better-than-you-and-there's-nothing-you-can-do-to-change-that" which she'd naturally took as a challenge and everyone knew she wasn't one to back down from a challenge. As soon as she'd gotten back to the village she'd applied herself into cooking ramen even asking Teuchi Ojichan for tips. It took her a few tries in which she'd burnt the food several times resulting in a few black pots. At the end she'd made it, she had cooked a perfectly good (in her opinion) and edible (in Sasuke's opinion) ramen.

Since then, she'd been trying to cook all kinds of different food. It turned out that she really enjoyed cooking, there was something soothing about it that she liked. Iruka-sensei who had turned out to be a good cook helps her from time to time when he isn't busy to the point where she could say that she's proficient in the art.

Speaking of the academy teacher, Naruto could see him by the cash register.

"Iruka-sensei!" Naruto called out loudly, her former teacher winced at the volume but turned around with a smile on his face waving. Naruto quickly got her stuff and ran to him, she jumped on him for a hug to which he caught her with a surprise oof.

"Whoa, Naruto!" He said chuckling as he hugged her back. "Remember you're not as light as you used to be." He said with a wink.

"Ah, sorry Iruka-sensei!" She quickly got down scratching behind her head sheepishly.

Iruka waved his hand dismissively. "How are you?" He glanced at the basket that she'd dropped at her feet. "Grocery shopping, I see."

Naruto grinned, "I'm fine Iruka-sensei, I just came from a mission and I'm kind of hungry, but my fridge is empty!" She finished with a whine bouncing on the balls of her feet.

Iruka chuckled, "What about your cups of ramen that you always keep in your top shelf cupboard?"

"Yes, but I wanted something different!"

"Alright, alright." Iruka said paying the cashier, "How about this? Come to my house and I will cook us something to eat you can tell me all about your mission."

"Yatta!" Naruto cheered as she paid for her food too. "I got a new recipe that I want to try out, can you help me with it, please." She showed him her her best puppy eyes.

"Okay, sure I will be happy to help." Iruka laughed ruffling her hair, he blinked in surprise when he noticed what she was wearing for the first time. "Well, look who finally decided to get in touch with her feminine side?"

Naruto pouted at being teased taking her grocery bag, "Not you too, Iruka-sensei!"

"I'm kidding," he said as they walked out of the store. "You look nice."

Naruto looked down shyly fiddling with the hem of her dress, she mumbled something that sounded like thank you.

Iruka smiled softly, he knew how insecure Naruto was sometimes about herself. He gave her a sly smile and a wink. "Keep this up and you might finally get yourself a boyfriend."

Instead of the disgusted face and indignant cry he expected silence greeted him. He glanced at her sideways, she was still looking down her lips was twisted in slight frown. "What's wrong?"

Naruto shook her head and gave him grin, "Nothing."

He narrowed his eyes, but before he could say something her grin turned sly. "Speaking of boyfriend, how are things going with Shizune-nee?" Iruka turned red from embarrassment.

Naruto snickered at her sensei's reaction. Iruka and Shizune have been dating for close to a year now. After months of stalking from Iruka he'd finally found the courage to ask her out, to which Shizune hadn't been sure at first but after seeing that the first date had gone well she'd agreed to go out with him again and since then they've been dating. Her former teacher seemed to like her a lot and Shizune-nee is a good person and they both deserved to be happy. That doesn't mean she would stop teasing her surrogate brother about it though. With a mischievous smile that caused Iruka to narrow his eyes again but for different reason this time she said, "You're not working her ragged are you?" He didn't understand her until she added, "We'd hate to have a _very_ tired medic to help patients, especially if she hasn't been sleeping because... You, you know, kept her up all night." She finished with a wink.

Iruka squawked his whole face red. "Naruto!"

Naruto ran cackling loudly all the while dodging startled civilians.

"Naruto, come back here! Hey-wait up!"

Naruto shook her head as she ran even faster to his house.

Iruka shook his head fondly at her retreating form smiling as he followed at a slow pace.

When he reached her he gave her a mouthful about minding her own business to which she replied that the fact that she'd walked in on them more than once gives her the right to tease him to which he blushed again and told her if she'd bothered to knock before entering she wouldn't have seen anything.

They continue to banter back and forth as he cooked dinner with Naruto helping, Shizune arrived to a very lively home.

"Shizune-nee-Chan!" Naruto jumped on her for a hug.

"Hey Naruto!" Shizune hugged the girl back. "How are you?"

"I'm great, just helping Iruka-sensei make dinner." She said going back to the stove, she tried to taste but Iruka smacked her hand off.

Shizune walked over to give a peck to her boyfriend's. "What are you cooking?"

"Stew beef." He answered.

"Hmm, ravishing." She said taking a spoon and leaning over to taste, Iruka let her ignoring Naruto's cry of "Hey, no fair!" As he waited for her to comment.

Shizune eyes lit up. "It's good, as always."

An embarrassed blush spread on Iruka's cheeks but he had a pleased smile. Naruto grumbled something about him being smitten which earned her a slap on the head making Shizune laugh.

They talked for awhile about Shizune's work and when the food was ready, the three of them sat around the table and started eating with Naruto enthusiastically telling them about her mission and how she kicked ass without breaking a sweat. They all laughed when Naruto demonstrated how she made the restaurant owner speak.

When they were done, she stood to take the plates but Shizune stopped her.

"Leave it, you go sit I will make us tea." Naruto tried to protest but Shizune wouldn't hear any of it. Naruto gave up and went to join Iruka in the sitting room.

"So Naruto," Shizune said joining them and handing them their tea. "What's with the dress?"

"Sakura made me go shopping during our mission."

"Well, I think you look really pretty. Not that you didn't already look pretty." She added with a smile.

Naruto blushed and looked down shyly, "Thanks."

Shizune shared a smile with Iruka before changing the subject. "Still training hard to be hokage uh?"

"Of course!" Naruto said excitedly, her embarrassment all gone. "I'm going to be the greatest hokage ever!"

"I'm sure you will." Shizune said.

"Don't forget that to be the greatest hokage you need to be strong up here too." Iruka said indicating his head. "And for that you need to read the books that the hokage gave you that I'm sure you haven't started on."

"I have too!" Iruka raised an eyebrow, and she relented. "Okay, maybe I only started on the first sentence but I can't help it, it's just so boring!" She whined.

"It is not supposed to be fun, Naruto." Iruka said disapprovingly making Naruto shrink back on the couch, since she hated disappointing him. "It's supposed to get you ready for what you're getting yourself into."

Naruto slumped but nodded because she knew he was right. "I know, but between training and studying seals I hardly have time to read."

She started studying seals close to a year now. Her skills are mediocre at best but she had to admit that she was getting better considering she only had her parent's' and godfather's notes to study from, the library only covers the basics of sealing. She didn't want the legacy of her mother to die so she'd taken upon studying seals in order to remember her mom by, not that she needs seals to remember her mother it's just nice to learn something her mother was good at since she hadn't inherited the Uzumaki chains like her mother.

She already had her father's rasengan, though it seemed he was a master in his own right in sealing too just from looking at the seal engraved on her stomach.

"Oh I'd forgotten that you do seals too." Shizune said taking a sip of her tea.

"How is that going? You haven't talked about it today." Iruka asked.

"I'm still learning. I can make little things like shock tags, freezing tags, seal protection but I haven't gotten to the big flashy stuff yet."

Iruka narrowed his eyes. "And what do you mean by 'flashy stuff'?"

"Oh I don't know," Naruto said innocently. "How about sealing demons?"

Iruka frowned. "That's not funny."

"Relax Iruka-sensei, I'm just messing with you." Naruto laughed. "Kakashi-sensei supervises my progress so there's nothing to worry about."

"I think you're progressing relatively well for eight months." Shizune interjected before Iruka could give his disapproval in letting Kakashi supervise her training, not that she can blame him. The guy is a lazy pervert but his skills and prowess makes up for it and the fact that he knows what he's doing when it comes to sealing.

"Thanks Shizune-neechan, it means a lot." Naruto grinned before looking at the clock on the wall. "I need to get going, it's getting late."

Iruka stood up."Let me walk you to the door."

Naruto grabbed her shopping bag and they both walked to the door. "Thank you for tonight. I really appreciate it."

Iruka waved his hands dismissively, he smiled. "Anytime, you just come to me if you need anything."

Naruto smiled rubbing the back of her head awkwardly. "Thank Shizune-nee for me." She turning around and waved him bye.

Iruka waved back. "Be careful, okay?"

"I will, bye Iruka-sensei!"

Iruka watched until she disappeared into the darkness, before shaking his head and walking back inside his apartment.

Naruto hummed as she walked toward her apartment swinging her bags back and forth. Not worried about the dark empty street, her mood was still good from the dinner with Iruka and Shizune and it's not like anyone would dare hurt her anyway. She would pummel them before they could even try.

She smiled as she thought back on all the things they'd talked about. She was just a minute away from her beat-up apartment when the two shopping bags in her hands broke and everything fell on the ground. She cursed, but sighed kneeling down to pick up the things.

It was then that she heard footsteps coming towards her. At first she ignored it thinking whoever it was was just walking past, but then the footsteps paused just a little distance from her and then resumed walking in her direction.

Naruto grumbled a little about her rotten luck and hopefully it wasn't a mugger trying his luck on her. She looked up ready to tell whoever it was to get lost, her words caught in her throat and a sound that sounded like a whimper came out instead. She swallowed thickly trying to stand up, but failing as her legs had suddenly gone to sleep.

Shikamaru was walking calmly towards her, she couldn't tell his expression because of the darkness but she was sure it was set in a bored mask like always.

Shikamaru stopped in front of her with his hands in his pocket. Now that he was in front of her she could see he was wearing a mesh shirt that hugged his body making his defined muscles visible and faded jeans. She swallowed averting her eyes

"Do you need help?" He asked indicating to the things scattered around her.

Naruto shook her head. "I- I got it." She stammered trying to pick up the rest of the things but her arms were already full.

Shikamaru sighed bending down to pick up the rest of the stuff. Naruto's breath hitched when she caught a whiff of his smell. She shook herself, _'_ _G_ _et a grip on yourself, Naruto!'_ She scolded herself silently. ' _It's just Shikamaru.'_ That didn't stop her breath from catching again when he looked at her in askance. She blinked wondering why he was looking at her.

"Um, Naruto?" He said and he sounded amused, and she noticed his voice sounded like chocolate, smooth and deep and she liked the way he said her name- wait what? _'Okay_ _Naruto, don't be daft you do not like the way he says your name! It sounds too lazy and deep and...and nice.'_ Naruto inwardly screamed in frustration, it's a good thing it was too dark so he couldn't see the blush on her face. "Do you plan on staying on the floor for the rest of the night?"

Naruto blinked when his smooth voice interrupted her mental debate before registering what he'd said. "Oh... Oh right!" She stood up hastily, she almost fell back down but he caught her by the arm with his free hand.

For a short moment they just stood there looking at each other. She swallowed again before trying to shake off all those foreign feelings that wanted to overcome her. Shikamaru too seemed to remember himself because he quickly dropped her arm as if it was on fire. She crushed the disappointment that she could feel forming in her stomach.

They walked silently to her apartment, she could still feel her arm tingling where he'd touched her. All this was making her confused, her body shouldn't be reacting like that just from his touch and it's not like this is the first time he'd touched her, they've touched before and not once as she felt weak in the knees like she was feeling now. She felt self-conscious as she climbed the stairs to her apartment with him behind her, she could feel his eyes on her back.

She opened the door easily since she never locked it. They went in and she showed him where to drop the stuff.

Shikamaru shifted awkwardly where he was standing. She looked up expectedly. He seemed to be as uncomfortable as she felt. That oddly comforted her.

"I came here so we could talk." He didn't need to tell her about what she already knew, herself planning to do the same thing, but she would have preferred if it was later rather than sooner. Though it's good that it was happening now, she wanted to get it over and done with.

"Take a seat," she said indicating to her sofa which was full of clothes by the way. She flushed in embarrassment as she quickly went to take them off all the while berating herself for not cleaning earlier.

Shikamaru watched with half lidded eyes as she fussed around trying to tidy anything out of place. He made sure to keep his eyes away from her legs when she bent down to pick up something.

"Naruto." He interrupted her when she was about to pick up something that looked suspiciously like a boxer-though he doesn't understand why would any girl need to wear boxers- that she'd dropped for the third time. _'Great, I'm_ _making_ _her nervous.'_ He sighed going to sit on the couch. "You don't need to clean up, I've seen your apartment in worse conditions."

Instead of the outburst that would normally follow, she just flushed harder and looked down in embarrassment and mumbled an excuse before disappearing in her room.

"Troublesome." This is not how he imagined things going when he'd come to see her. _'Maybe I should've waited till tomorrow, after all.'_ He thought, but then shook his head. He needed to do this today or he would not sleep tonight. He'd come earlier but she wasn't home so he'd gone back to his apartment only to come back an hour later because he hadn't been able to sleep for some reason that he refused to analyze. He wanted to see Naruto and make sure nothing had changed between them. Well, nothing that can stop them from still being friends. 'So much for that,' he thought. She can't even look at him properly without blushing! Not that he can blame her, he had to stop himself from avoiding her eyes on occasions only because he knew it would hurt her feelings. But still, right now Naruto is doing a perfect imitation of Hinata when she was younger, the only thing missing was the finger poking. On the positive side, she wasn't mad at him anymore, he had to take take that into consideration at least.

It saddened him to think that they might never be the way they were before. Something had shifted between them, he can't tell if it's good or bad. His thoughts were interrupted when Naruto returned, it seemed she'd calmed herself because she could now look at him in the eyes, but he could still see a faint blush on her cheeks. It made her look enticing and innocent. To be fair she was still innocent, that night was her first time having sex. He winced at the reminder. Naruto caught it and raised an eyebrow in question, he shook his head.

"Uhm, do you want some tea?" She asked after a moment of awkward silence.

"Okay, sure." He shrugged.

She nodded and went to the kitchen to put the kettle on, she came back and there was another moment of awkwardness when she realized that there was only one couch and that if she wanted to sit she would have to sit next to him. She contemplated just standing but figured it would seem kind of rude, normally she had no qualms about being rude but tonight is different, she's different. She hesitated a little before forcing herself to move while telling herself inwardly to get a grip, it wasn't a big deal. She settled herself as far away from him as the couch would permit.

Shikamaru watched silently, amused despite himself. Naruto saw his expression and glared at him. "You think this is amusing, don't you?"

He shrugged unapologetic, a lazy grin creeping on his lips. "Maybe a little."

She huffed crossing her arms and looking away. He chuckled at her antics turning in his seat to face her. Another awkward pause before she blurted. "I'm sorry."

He blinked at her in surprise. "For what?"

Naruto looked down at her hands. "For-for punching you."

Shikamaru's hand went to his cheek, the bruise had completely faded by now. He looked at Naruto, she was biting her lips her expression was worried as she looked at him. She was really feeling bad uh, he shook his head, that is _so_ Naruto, always worried about others.

He shrugged unbothered, "It doesn't hurt anymore. Plus, I kinda deserved it." He finished with a crooked smile.

Naruto looked away from it as it was giving her small butterflies in her stomach. "Yeah you did. But I still shouldn't have punched you like that."

"It's fine, Naruto. Actually, I came here to apologize to you for being a jerk."

Naruto looked up at him in surprise, she shrugged. "It's fine I-"

"No," he interrupted. "It's not fine. I shouldn't have said what I said and I'm sorry. I was mad at myself for letting things get out of control and I took it out on you. It was your first time and I was an ass about it. I don't want what happened between us to destroy our friendship."

Blue eyes searched his face, for what he didn't know. After a moment Naruto relaxed and gave him a brilliant smile that seemed to light up the place. Before she could say anything the sound of the kettle went off, interrupting her. Naruto excused herself to go make tea.

Shikamaru relaxed as soon as she went. It was hard trying to focus with her sitting close to him, her smell was intoxicating. Everytime she looked away he had the urge to turn her head toward him so he could stare at those intense beautiful eyes.

He frowned when what he'd just thought occurred to him; what the hell is wrong with him? He shouldn't have these kind of thoughts at a moment like this. He shouldn't have these kind of thoughts at all, period. Though, he had to admit that she did have beautiful eyes and lips- _'_ _W_ _ait-what?'_ Shikamaru groaned softly, _'_ _T_ _hese damn hormones!'_ He paused at that, could it be? He thought, could it be that it's his hormones that are causing his 'possible' attraction for the blonde? He tried to remember the last time he'd had sex before recently, it was five months ago when he'd been to Suna for a conference meeting. He and Temari lived so far from each other that it prevented them from seeing each other a lot, both of them being too busy with their duties in their respective villages. This resulted in the lack of physical slash sexual activities between the two. Shikamaru hadn't minded though, he was never a physical person anyway. Well, until now.

For some reason he can't stop his body from reacting to Naruto and the only conclusion he could come up with is his lack of sex in life is finally catching up to him, lame right? Well, he couldn't think of anything else at the moment that would explain his growing attraction for Naruto. He can't even stand her as much as Ino and Sakura. She is loud, annoying and brash and hot and cute when she blushed. Shikamaru blinked before sighing in defeat, _'I will be damned.'_

His hand went to his left pocket, taking out a cigarette and put it on his lips. He was about to light it up when he remembered in whose house he was sitting in, and that Naruto might not appreciate him smoking in her apartment. He sighed again taking it out of his mouth. He looked at it thoughtfully. Whatever, he came here to salvage their friendship, he will just have to control whatever urges or attraction he might possibly have for her, because he cannot afford to do the same mistake twice. With that decision made, he tucked his cigarette back into his pocket.

"I have a confession to make." Naruto said when she returned with a tray. "Some cookies I bought when I was at the store, help yourself."

"Thanks," he said as he took a cup of tea and a cookie, he waited patiently for Naruto to sit down and gather her courage for the confession she supposedly had. He tried to think of what it could be but surprisingly came up empty.

Naruto bit her lips as she thought on how to start what she wanted to say. It might probably make him angry, but she felt that he had to know, she felt that she owed it to him.

"I-" she started wringing her fingers together nervously. What if he doesn't want to speak to her ever again? She ducked her head in shame, "The thing is... I mean, I..."

Shikamaru groaned aloud. "Now you got me very interested. Come on spit it out already."

Naruto took a deep breath, _'_ _O_ _kay, here goes nothing.'_ "The thing is I wasn't completely drunk that night." She blurted out.

Shikamaru blinked in confusion, "I don't understand."

"What I mean is, that night wasn't totally accidental on my part. I kinda knew what I was getting myself into."

Shikamaru shook his head. "I know what you meant, what I don't understand is why did you let things proceed that far? Why didn't you stop me?"

"Because... Because... Oh, I don't know!" Naruto threw her hands up, "Maybe because I liked it? Don't get me wrong I feel bad about it okay, but at the same time I don't regret it."

Shikamaru's eyes was wide in shock. "Why?" He managed to choke out.

Naruto shrugged and smiled sadly. "You're the first guy that ever took interest in me like that and it made me feel good about myself... Kind of Special." She added quickly, "I'm not saying this to make you feel sorry for me. In fact don't. I'm telling you so that you should stop blaming yourself, the sex was consensual you didn't take advantage of me, I was a willing participant."

Shikamaru relaxed, he knew it shouldn't but for some reason what she said made him feel better. To somehow know that the feeling of desire he had was mutual was good, better than thinking that he took advantage of her. He watched as Naruto took a sip of her tea. He cannot imagine a girl as beautiful and strong as Naruto to have low self-esteem, not to mention she has a big heart. If she wanted she could have any guy she wanted. _'Even me.'_ The realization startled him, especially since it was true. There's just something about Naruto that drew people in.

They stayed silent for awhile each occupied with their own thoughts.

"So," Naruto said breaking the silence. "Are you mad at me?"

He looked up in surprise. "Why would I be mad at you?"

Naruto put her cup back on the tray but kept her head down. "I probably ruined things for you. I should have stopped us before we got further and I'm sorry."

Shikamaru tilted her head up so she could look him in the eyes. "You didn't ruin anything for me. Like you I was a willing partner and I wasn't completely drunk either."

It was Naruto's turn to be shocked. "You weren't?"

He shook his head.

"But-but in the morning you were- I thought-"

"I was just angry at myself for losing control and for taking advantage of you to forget my own misery."

Naruto shook her head vigorously. "But you didn't-"

"It felt that way, still does. Your first time should've been with someone special that you actually like."

"So," Naruto said carefully. "You don't regret it?"

Shikamaru thought of how to answer it for a moment. "It sucks that it happened like that, but I don't think I regret it. It was actually a pretty amazing experience." He finished with a wink.

Naruto sighed in relief before quirking a smile. "Yeah." She whispered taking a bite of her cookie as she thought on how to ask the next question. After a moment she gave up and just decided to say it bluntly. "Why did you kiss me?"

It was only pure coincidence that at that same moment Shikamaru was taking a sip of his tea, the question taking him by surprise making him choke on his tea. Naruto bit her lips to stop herself from laughing as Shikamaru pounded his chest while coughing. He glared at her somehow sensing the amusement from her, she gave him an innocent look.

"Troublesome." He muttered putting back his cup and leaning back on the couch.

"So?" Naruto prodded, "Why did you kiss me?"

He looked at her with a scowl. "What about you? Why did you kiss me back?"

Naruto's jaw went slack, her face turned red. She quickly shook her head. "I can't answer that!"

He raised an eyebrow. "And why not?"

"Because... Because I asked you first, dumbass!" She crossed her arms smugly.

There was a moment of pause before they both burst out laughing.

"No, come on." Naruto said when they both sobered up.

Shikamaru grimaced, shrugging his shoulders. "Frankly, I don't know why."

Naruto looked down to hide her disappointment. "Is it because you felt sorry for me?" She said it so softly that Shikamaru barely heard it.

"What?"

She glared down, fists clenched on her lap. "Was it pity? Did you kiss me because you felt sorry for me?"

Shikamaru shook his head perplexed. "Pity? What are you on about?"

Naruto looked away. "I don't need your pity." She said through gritted teeth.

Shikamaru's hands shot forward to grip her shoulder forcing her to look at him in surprise.

"Listen to me carefully because I won't repeat myself," he looked at her in the eyes so that she can see he was being serious. "I do not do things out of pity. It's either I want to do it or I don't."

"But-but you said... What about what you said? About-about me being beautiful and stuff?" She stammered unable to look at him with his hands on her shoulder. She could feel her heart pounding in her ears she just hoped that he couldn't hear it.

Shikamaru raised an eyebrow, "what of it?"

Naruto blushed. "I thought you only said that because I was feeling bad about myself that day, ya know? And you kissed me because you felt sorry for me."

Shikamaru looked at her in disbelief unable to follow what she's talking about. He looked at her for another moment before realization dawned on him. How could he have forgotten? Naruto wasn't used to people being nice to her, so of course she took his actions as him pitying her. She was shunned from the moment she was born by everyone because of the kyu- no, Kurama. Naruto had stressed he'd be addressed as that, because apparently the nine tail's feelings were hurt if he got called otherwise- so she wasn't used to getting compliments by others. She may be good at giving kindness but receiving it doesn't come naturally to her. He felt himself burn up with a rising anger at the villagers for treating one of his friends badly, just as it came the feeling disappeared suddenly. It's in the past now, there's nothing he can do about it except make her realise that pity had nothing to do with everything that happened between them. He sighed tiredly releasing her shoulder.

"Look," he said scratching his hair. "I don't know where you got that idea, but it's stupid. I didn't kiss you because I felt sorry for you. I kissed you because I wanted to."

Large blue eyes blinked at him in confusion. He smiled and shrugged his shoulders.

"I don't know why, but when I saw you standing there I wanted to kiss you badly so I did. And about you being being beautiful? I was just being honest."

Naruto's eyes widen, her mouth was slightly parted. She looked so cute he had to stop himself from reaching out and kissing her.

"Oh," she said after a shocked moment of silence. "Uhm... Thanks, I guess."

"There's something else."

Naruto blinked. It seemed her brain was currently functioning slowly, so just she nodded for him to go ahead.

"I know that things might not ever be the same again, but I hope that you and I can still be friends." He sighed before continuing, "I realized that asking you to forget about that night was the wrong thing to say, because it's impossible to forget. But I do want us to put it behind us, I don't want that night to keep hanging around us every time we see each other. You probably already know this, but I really don't want anyone to find out about us and if we act weird around each other people might suspect something."

Naruto nodded in understanding. A part of her still hung up on him calling her beautiful, for some reason her stomach felt funny. "I understand. I won't say anything."

Shikamaru blinked, for some reason that sounded wrong. "It has nothing to do with you but more to do with me... Temari is going to kill me if she finds out... Shit, I'm saying this wrong aren't I?" He sighed and tried again. "What I mean is people will have my head if they knew I had sex with you."

Naruto laughed softly. "Relax, I get what you're saying and I don't mind. I wouldn't want people to know either, I feel like it's our business."

Shikamaru looked at her in surprise before a lazy smile formed on his lips. Naruto's breath caught on her throat and she found that she liked that look way better than his normally bored expression.

"Exactly!"

' _Our business._ _'_ It sounded more personal, she liked it.

They smiled at each other, a moment later though Shikamaru's smile dropped and he stared intensely at her. Naruto started feeling a little self-conscious, she could feel the heat creeping up to her face, she tugged nervously at the hem of her dress. She looked away to hide her flaming cheeks.

 _'Get a grip on yourself, Naruto!'_ She scolded herself silently, _'_ _S_ _top blushing like one of Sasuke's fan girls_ _._ _I_ _t's just Shikamaru for crying out loud!'_ She took a deep breath to calm herself only to regret it as her oversensitive nose inhaled his scent which smelled like the earth mixed with some deodorant. She found herself wanting to be engulfed in that smell. She closed her eyes and exhaled slowly, _'_ _T_ _his is just the raging hormones talking,'_ she tried to convince herself because she most certainly does not want to be engulfed in any smell, especially not his! With that she opened her eyes slowly and found brown eyes still staring at her making her breath hitch. Her heart pounded in her throat, her body tensed in anticipation, for what she didn't know. She licked her suddenly dry lip nervously. Brown eyes briefly followed the movement.

She swallowed hard feeling the sudden need to touch him. She clenched her fist hard to stop herself from actually reaching out. She tried to concentrate on her breathing while reminding herself why acting out will be a bad idea- and why the fuck is he just sitting there staring at her? -but a larger part of her was egging her on, telling her that it wouldn't hurt to do it just to find out if everything she felt that night was just the alcohol or it was something... More. It seemed the space between them diminished. She belatedly realized that she was advancing on him, fucking traitor. She should stop her body before it could do something more, but she didn't and it seemed Shikamaru was just happy to wait it out, traitors both of them.

Her hand reached out- and when the hell did that leave her lap!? -it hovered just inches from his face. He was still looking at her. After a few seconds he closed his eyes and Naruto took it as invitation. She ran her fingers over his face, above his brows, on the curve his nose and lastly his lips. She took her time tracing the shape of his lips, noticing that his top lip was slightly thinner than his bottom one. Her hand slid down to the back of his neck.

She leaned forward, kissing him lightly on his jaw. She waited to see if he was going to pull away. He didn't.

She continued trailing slow kisses down his neck and back up to his lips. She hesitated a little before kissing him lightly on the corner of his mouth, teasing. She slowly pulled back, but not too far because she still had her hands behind his head.

What the hell was she doing? She shouldn't be doing this, especially minutes after they managed to reach some kind of understanding. And weren't they supposed to put everything behind them? She felt so confused at her actions right now, the unexplainable feeling of longing she was experiencing. It was all so new and... She didn't know how to describe it, but she felt a little excited mixed with fear and... Intrigued. Yes, she definitely felt intrigued.

Shikamaru's eyes slid open, there was an oddly blank look in his eyes as they connected with her own.

She felt a sense of panic when it occurred to her that she might have gone too far and she had somehow managed to screw things between them more than she had already done. Before she could think of ways in which she could apologize, even beg for forgiveness if she had to, a pair of lips captured hers. She hesitated for only a second before returning the kiss. The kiss was slow and hungry, she's never been kissed like that before -not that she actually has a lot of experience in kissing or anything but if she had to rate it over ten she would give it a nine and the other one... Well, that's just because she could feel him somehow holding back. She knew why though, and for some reason it annoyed her greatly. The emotion was quickly forgotten when his hand snaked around her waist pulling her closer to him, deepening the kiss at the same time.

She could feel every fiber of her body on fire and their tongues hadn't even touched yet!

She resisted the urge to moan as he bit lightly on her lower lip. She was never one for cliches, in fact she always rolled her eyes whenever Ino told them stories of her latest boyfriend and she would use overly dramatic words, but Naruto swore she felt a spark start from her stomach and down to her toes when she felt his tongue in her mouth. That's how amazing it was. She may not know why her body was suddenly drawn to Shikamaru but she had to admit that the feeling isn't totally unwelcome.

She let out a small noise that sounded like purring and he chuckle in his throat, the sound making her moan in pleasure. Who knew that having a guy laugh in your throat could be sexy? Hell, who knew that she would ever kiss Shikamaru and enjoy it?

After who knows how long of kissing, she started feeling dizzy and she realized that it's been awhile since she'd breathed.

Slowly almost reluctantly he pulled away, the both of them panting.

"Wow," Naruto whispered still dazed from the kiss.

"Yeah, wow." Shikamaru agreed shaking his head. He suddenly groaned hiding his face with his arm and leaning back on the couch.

They stayed in silence for awhile, both lost in their own thoughts. Shikamaru though didn't know what to think of all this, his emotions were in shambles. He tried to gather his thoughts and analyze the situation but his brain drew a blank. He was feeling so many things right now he didn't know where to begin. He mentally cursed himself for feeling so attracted to Naruto, even now as he watched her bite her lips with the same confused expression he was feeling. He felt like pulling her to him and kissing every inch of her no matter how cheesy that sounded. He mentally groaned again, what the hell is going on? Why is he suddenly feeling attracted towards her? Could sleeping with her have awakened some sort of lustful desire towards her that he hadn't known existed? So many questions were running through his mind with no answers, and isn't that a first? He always had answers to everything, that's why they called him the genius of Konoha. Shikamaru could not once remember getting stuck on something, if something was bothering him he'd always just think up a solution.

He sighed, rubbing his eyes. This is too troublesome for him, not to mention Temari is the only girl that interested him, always has been. So he doesn't understand why his body decided to betray him. It's probably just a fling, he decided, he is obviously more upset about the break up than he thought, and now his body is missing her somehow and since Naruto is the only girl he'd slept with other than Temari maybe his body is confused or something. He sighed in defeat realizing how stupid the idea sounded even in his head.

"Uhm..." Naruto said drawing him out of his thoughts. She looked at him with her big beautiful blue eyes. How come he never noticed how beautiful Naruto's eyes were? This is so weird, now he's admiring Naruto's eyes, what's next? He stifled another sighed as he gave her a wry smile. "This is fucked up, huh?"

Naruto just blinked at him, biting her lips hard enough to draw blood. He sighed again closing his eyes. She watched as a small frown appeared between his brow and she knew instantly that he was thinking of reasons why this was wrong, for some reason she felt annoyed at this she doesn't get why he always needed to overthink things. Before she could stop herself she blurted out. "It doesn't have to be."

Where did that come from?

She was shocked and mortified at the same time. A part of her- the more hormonal one -realized that it was true. Why do they need to overthink everything? This is the third time this happened and it's obviously no coincidence nor a mistake. What if they just let whatever is happening between them be? Maybe, just maybe, it won't be so bad. But then a voice that sounded suspiciously familiar told her to stop whatever she was thinking of doing before it lands her in trouble. She ignored it.

Shikamaru looked at her in surprise, but curious at the same time.

Naruto swallowed trying and failing to stop herself from blushing. When the hell did she become such a _girl_? Blushing at everything like that. If Sasuke saw her right now he would never let her live that down.

She looked up and saw Shikamaru looking at her with amusement now shining in his eyes as she made a fool of herself, he was mocking her! At least that's how she saw it anyway. She scowled at him trying her hardest to glare at him but the effect was probably lost because of that stupid blush on her face. She huffed when he chuckled, she stuck her tongue out at him as proof of her maturity then looked away to take a deep breath to calm herself.

"What I mean is," she said after lots of deep breaths and she felt calm enough to talk without stuttering or blushing. "That it doesn't have to be a bad thing. We could always use it to our advantage."

Shikamaru's eyebrows shot up. She couldn't blame him, Naruto herself was more surprised that she'd said what she had. Sometimes even she doesn't believe the things that come out other mouth. Advantage? What kind of advantage could possibly come from them having sex?!

"And what kind of advantage is that?" Shikamaru asked, unknowingly echoing her thoughts.

"Well, maybe not advantage." ' _Okay, Naruto that's your cue to shut up!'_ She advised herself but it seemed that her mouth had other plans because it was still talking! "But just think about it, there's obviously some kind of attraction between us so why don't we just... You know, satisfy our curiosity with no strings attached."

This is it, Naruto had officially lost her mind. Seriously, what the fuck?

It seemed Shikamaru was thinking the same thing because his expression was one of incredulity. He shook his head furiously, "Naruto... I'm not going to have sex with you." The hurt must have shown on her face because he quickly said. "Not that I don't want to because I do want to have sex with you, but I can't."

"Can't or won't?" She asked in a small voice.

"I can't... We can't have sex together again, Naruto. It won't be right." He sighed scratching his head in frustration. "Look, Naruto that night was amazing and I had fun, but I don't think it will be a good idea to repeat it. It's unfair to you because I'm in love with Temari, it would be like using you."

Naruto's face scrunched up thoughtfully. She could understand his point, he just got out of a relationship and according to him not for long. If they were to have sex again it might cause some problems in the future for the two of them, not to mention it might be a tad bit awkward for Naruto when it was time to interact with Temari. On one side she felt attracted to him even now as she looked at him she felt the need to touch him so strongly she had to clench her fist to stop herself from reaching out to him and looking into his eyes. She could see the same desire in them, she normally wasn't good at spotting these kind of things, but his must have been very strong if she could see it. He wanted to have sex with her as much as she wanted to have sex with him. But of course being the rational person he is, he was probably trying to talk himself out of acting out.

She sighed, this was a hard decision. The obvious choice is for her to agree so that they could put everything behind them, so no one would get hurt. But she found herself unable to do that, the need to touch him and feel him was so strong that she felt compelled to throw all reasons out the window. So instead she leaned forward and kissed him squarely on the lips and whispered. "No one has to know."

His reaction was funny, his eyes widen comically, his face flushed and he sputtered uncharacteristically. She smiled, it was actually cute. She froze, wait- cute? Now Naruto wondered if someone took over her body with her soul trapped inside because there's no way this was her thoughts.

When he regained his composure he looked at her with a frown. "Naruto, come on. I'm serious."

Naruto shrugged. "I'm serious too."

"You can't be serious!" Shikamaru exclaimed unable to believe that this was Naruto speaking. Maybe he somehow got transported in an alternate universe without him knowing and he's now talking with an alternate version of the blond girl. He pinched himself just incase he was having some kind dreams or maybe his lust for her was making him hallucinate.

Naruto gave him a dirty look, apparently she didn't appreciate him thinking she was an hallucination. Troublesome.

"I'm serious, Shikamaru." She shook her head as if talking to an idiot, Shikamaru felt kinda offended since he'd always thought Naruto was the idiotic one. "I don't know why you're always over thinking things, it's not like I'm asking you to marry me or anything. I'm not even asking you to date me! All I want to know is why I'm attracted to you physically and if sex is the way to satisfy my curiosity," she shrugged. "Why not do it? It's probably just a fling and when we have sex it will disappear." Naruto doubted that last part, whatever it was between them didn't feel like it would just disappeared after one night of sex. Everytime she looked at him, she felt an inexplicable hunger toward him and her whole body is aware of him. All she wanted to do is touch him and let him touch her in places she'd never been touched before. She shuddered just thinking about it. In a way it scared her, all these new emotions she was feeling. A small part of her wanted to run far away where these things she was feeling wouldn't reach her, because she had a feeling that it would consume her in a way that she might never recover from. But Naruto had never been one to runaway from her fears, she always confronted them head on, hence the reason she was asking him to have sex again.

She obviously had never heard of the saying curiosity killed the cat, Shikamaru thought, but he could see her point maybe having sex with her one last time won't be so bad and his body will finally realize that it was confused. Plus, he can't deny that he was curious himself. He wanted to experience that night again. But then he remembered Temari, his troublesome woman that he loves so much. He didn't want to betray her... Okay, he didn't want to betray her more than he already did. He can't let his hormones cloud his judgment.

He didn't want to use Naruto as his rebound, since he didn't even want to get over Temari. _'Ugh, this so frustrating. I shouldn't even have to think about this the choice should be obvious.'_ Yet it wasn't as his eyes slid from Naruto to her body, she was still wearing that short dress from earlier, it was even more short now that she was sitting making her tanned thigh visible. He swallowed hard at the arousal he could feel coming up.

Naruto caught him looking and she smiled knowingly at him.

Damn.

He sighed in frustration running his hand in his hair only belatedly remembering that it was in a ponytail. "Let me get you straight," he said leaning back so he can look at her properly. "You only want sex from me, and nothing else, so you can satisfy your curiosity?"

Naruto scowled crossing her arms. "Don't say it like that for fuck's sake!" She snapped blushing furiously.

Shikamaru shook his head, she didn't know what she was getting herself into. If he were to agree to this it wouldn't end well. In fact he can just imagine the messy outcome it would lead to. But he couldn't deny the fact that he wanted to have sex with her again, he was almost ready to throw all rationality out the window and take her right then and there.

He licked his lips, he could still taste her. She surprisingly didn't taste like ramen like he'd always thought, she tasted more like honey mixed with the tea they drank. He closed his eyes, he could still smell her, she smelled of jasmine, a different smell from the morning he'd woken up to find her lying naked on his chest. That morning he'd been too horrified to pay attention, but now he can almost picture it. The naked curve of her body on him, his body grew hot just thinking about it.

"What are you thinking about?"

He opened his eyes to see Naruto watching him with a curious expression, but he could see she was a little nervous by the way her hands couldn't stop fidgeting with the hem of her dress and the way she kept biting her lips at every interval. It seemed she wasn't as sure as she pretended she was.

"You don't know what you're getting yourself into," he held up a hand before she could protest. "Trust me when I say that it's a terrible idea, plus I have Temari."

Naruto laughed harshly startling Shikamaru who looked at her in surprise. "You weren't thinking of your precious Temari when you had your tongue shoved in my mouth? Admit it Shikamaru, you want me as much as I want you, so stop the guilty conscience. Plus," she added with a sneer, "What makes you think she's not doing the same." As soon as it came out she regretted it.

Shikamaru reeled back as if struck, and Naruto's eyes widen when she realized what she'd just said.

What the hell is wrong with her?

She shook her head her hand going to him. "Shikamaru I-"

He abruptly stood up causing her hand to fall back on her lap. She watched him in silence as he paced back and forth in her small living room, his fist clenching and unclenching. She wasn't afraid he would hit her even though she deserved it for being a bitch, because she knew that no matter how much of a lazy jerk he is Shikamaru would never lay a finger on a girl, even if he happened to fight a girl during a mission he'd find a way to incapacitate her without touching her.

She was afraid to see the anger he was no doubt sporting on his face directed at her.

"I'm sorry," she tried again when he finally stopped pacing, his back was still turned. "I didn't mean to say that." _'Stupid, of course you didn't mean to say it.'_ A voice inside her head said, _'_ _Y_ _ou were just thinking it and it came out.'_

 _'Shut up and die.'_ She responded back, she didn't have time to argue with herself, she needed to make sure Shikamaru didn't hate her. But when he turned around his face was oddly blank, no sign of his usual bored mask that he's always sporting. She hated it.

"I have to go."

"Wait!" She cried standing up. "I'm sorry, please don't be mad."

Shikamaru looked at her for a moment then sighed, his anger deflating with that breath leaving exhaustion in its place. He shook his head, "I'm not mad, I just need some time to think. Both of us need to think things through."

"But-"

"Please." He said he sounded tired. She bit her lip stopping whatever she wanted to say and nodded slowly.

He sighed again but this time in relief and gave her a small smile, he turned around and left.

She heard the door click shut. She groaned aloud slumping on her couch.

"Fuck, fuck, fuck!" She said hitting the back of her head against the couch with every word.

Out of all the stupid things she'd said this really takes the cake. She was so pathetic, no wonder Shikamaru left in such a hurry. She really crossed the line with that comment about Temari and she regretted it the moment it came out of her mouth. She hadn't meant to say it, she was just so frustrated that he kept bringing her up as his excuse. She also didn't like the fact that he kept giving her mixed signals. She knew that he wanted her probably as much as she wanted him, yet she didn't understand why he was holding back. Okay, maybe she understood his concerns a little bit, but it's not like she was asking him to marry her and have babies with her or anything. Heaven knew she was not ready for that yet, she still had her long life dream to accomplish. For now all she wanted to do was have fun.

Maybe she'd read the signs wrong, maybe he wasn't at all interested in her.

 _'If he wasn't at all interested in you he wouldn't have kissed in the first place.'_ A voice at the back of her head said.

Naruto found herself nodding in agreement. It's true she may have initiated it, but he's the one that kissed her full on the lips. She doesn't think Shikamaru is the type to do things he doesn't want to do, he said so himself. So that could only mean he liked her.

She sighed, 'liked' as in the past tense. He probably hated her right now. She wouldn't blame him if he did, she hated herself right now. She felt regret as she thought on what she'd said about Temari. It was so unlike her to intentionally hurt somebody. Shikamaru was probably right, if they were to have sex it will only bring more harm than good, and Naruto knew for a fact that she didn't want to hurt anyone.

Naruto and Temari may not be close, but Naruto considered the other blonde like a friend. So what kind of friend was Naruto for wanting to sleep with her friend's boyfriend? She already felt guilty for sleeping with Shikamaru once, she caused him to cheat on her.

 _'Technically, it's not cheating if the couple broke up.'_

 _'Still it doesn't make it right.'_ Naruto responded before blinking as she realized that the voice she'd thought was her inner self sounded familiar, it sounded almost like-

"Kurama?" She voiced.

There was a distinctive snort. _'Took you long enough to notice.'_

"Kurama!" Naruto gasped in delight. "When did you wake up? And why are you whispering?"

No wonder she hadn't recognized him, he'd been whispering to her and she mistakenly thought it was her inner self.

She heard him sigh. _'I still have three more weeks on my sleep, the only reason I woke up is because I couldn't take all the ruckus in your head so I decided to check it out, and as usual you're in the middle of some kind of mess.'_ Another snort _, '_ _T_ _ypical.'_

"Jeez, I'm sorry Kurama. I didn't mean to wake you up with my thoughts, because I know for a fact how important sleeping is for you compared to what I'm going through." She said sarcastically, rolling her eyes. She blinked and she was now facing him in the seal. What used to be a sewer was now transformed into a plane valley with mountains in the distance, the wind was blowing past, ruffling some of the strand that was out of her bun. Well, the illusion of the real thing anyway, she could see clouds in the distance indicating that if she didn't calm down soon it might rain.

After the war she'd found out that her mindscape changed depending on what she was feeling since the seal that caged Kurama was no longer there.

She walked over to where the kyuubi was lounging, his tails swishing at regular intervals. She crossed her arms and glared. 'This is partly your fault too, you know.'

A lazy eye opened. _**'**_ **How is any of this my fault? I don't remember telling you to go have sex with the ki** **t** **.'** He said in his normal growling voice.

Naruto blushed at his use of the word sex. 'I was drunk, and wouldn't have been drunk if you'd been awake to flush out the alcohol toxin.'

Kurama rolled his eye. Naruto was momentarily distracted by how huge the crimson orb was, before focusing back on the subject.

 **'What you just said doesn't justify your accusation** **. I** **n fact it doesn't even justify your reason for having sex. We both know that you weren't really drunk.'**

Naruto scowled, she knew he was right but she didn't feel like taking all the blame. 'Well, you could have stopped me.' She grumbled walking over to sit next to him.

He opened both eyes to squint down at her. **'And would you have listened?'**

Naruto thought about it for a moment before sighing, 'Probably not.' She knew how she worked, she always acted on impulse. She was a do-now-think-later kind of person and if Kurama had tried to stop her, she probably wouldn't have listened especially since what she was feeling towards Shikamaru was so strong that she was ready to be selfish about it and throw all reasons out the window.

They sat in silence for awhile, before Naruto sighed again this time in defeat. 'What do I do, Kurama? I know the right thing to do is to take Shikamaru's advice and forget about everything that happened, but everytime I think about his lips on mine I get this jittery feeling like when I'm about to get a breakthrough with a jutsu. Only it's ten times more intense and amazing. I never felt that way before it's... It's different, ya know?'

 **'I wouldn't know.'** Kurama snorted, **'** **B** **ut I have an idea.'** He tipped his head toward the sky.

Naruto followed the direction and what she saw filled her with mortifying horror. It was her and Shikamaru, kissing. Only they weren't just kissing, they were doing all other stuff too, naked. Her eyes widen when she realized that it was images of the night they slept together.

'Turn that off!' She cried when it got to the more embarrassing part.

Kurama shook his head with a booming laugh. **'I can't. It's your mind remember?'**

Naruto snapped her head to him. 'You mean those are my thoughts?'

He nodded and she groaned partly in embarrassment and partly in annoyance. She took a deep breath and closed her eyes concentrating, when she opened them the images were gone and they were left with a clear sky she sighed in relief.

'What should I do?' She groaned falling back on the grass that had appeared out of nowhere to cushion her fall, she blinked when she realized that they weren't in the valley anymore, their landscape had changed to a clearing she could hear water running close by signaling that they weren't too far from a lake.

Kurama didn't even bat an eye, already used to the constant change in Naruto's mind, seriously, the girl feels too much. **'From what I've seen in my previous tenants, the feeling of bliss that one normally experiences after sexual intercourse is due to the body's production of endorphins. Endorphins are created in response to certain stimuli, such as fear, pain or stress and the production of endorphins can also trigger the release of sex hormones. Obviously, the main thing endorphins do is make you feel great. They also reward you for doing things that you find pleasurable. '**

Naruto blinked, 'I have no idea what you just said. Was that English you were speaking?'

The kyuubi rolled his eyes. ' **Basically what I'm trying to say is what you're going through is part of the mating process that all humans go through, increasing your endorphins which then causes stimuli to react in your body, and since my chakra emerged with yours heightening all your senses. Which means in terms of sexual need you tend to be more hormonal than the average teenager which can affect your emotions and throw you into a confused state."**

Wow, Naruto thought, that was the basics? And what's with that endorphin word? It keeps popping up. She shook her head from their foggy state that all that information caused when she tried to process it all. 'Uhm, so what you're saying is what I'm feeling is normal?'

He looked down at her like she was an annoying pest. **'That's what I just said.'**

No you didn't, she wanted to say but instead she kept her mouth shut trying to go over what he just said.

'So,' she said. 'What should I do?'

Crimson eyes glared at her. **'Weren't you listening to a word I said?'**

'I have. You told me what it is I'm feeling, but you didn't say anything about how to fix it!' Naruto said defensively tired of being looked down upon.

 **'If you'd listened properly you would've heard when I said considering our chakra are connected, physically as well as emotionally your endorphins are heightened-'**

'Fuck, Kurama! All I want to know is should I have sex with him again or not?' Naruto said seconds away from pulling her hair in frustration.

Kurama lifted his nose in the air haughtily. **'That is for you to decide.'**

Naruto's brow twitched in irritation, and just then lightning cracked in the distance.

He looked down at her and saw how close she was to explode from anger. He didn't feel like dealing with an angry Naruto. He sighed making himself more comfortable. **'The way I see it you have two options. Option one is to do as the Nara says and pretend nothing ever happened between the two of you, you can ignore the attraction between you two. But then you have to deal with the tension that might occur which in turn will put a strain to your friendship until it just falls apart.'**

Naruto bit her lips, that doesn't sound too bad. Except the fact that she might lose a friend! She didn't want to lose Shikamaru as a friend. 'So what's option two?'

 **'Well you could act on your attraction and deal with the consequences.'**

'Deal with the consequence, right. That sounded worse than the first option.' She glared up at him. 'You still haven't told me what I should do."

 **'I was getting there.'** Kurama rolled his eyes. **'My opinion is take the first option. There may be tension between you two, but I'm sure you can deal with it in time.'**

How long is that? There's no way Naruto could go on the way she was feeling especially when he was around. The fox had said consequences, what kind of consequence could there be with sleeping with Shikamaru? Well, except Temari finding out, but they could always be careful about it, right?

The kyuubi seemed to know what she was thinking (no surprise there since they were in her mindscape), because he brought his head down to her narrowing his eyes his mouth stretching into a maniacal grin showing his sharp teeth. **'There's greater consequences than getting caught, Naruto.'**

Narutoleaned back and hesitantly, almost afraid of the answer she asked. 'Like what?'

If possible Kurama's lips stretched further. **'Like falling in love.'** He almost purred the words sending shivers down her back.

She shook her head. 'Kurama, I'm not going to fall in love with Shikamaru.' Even the idea seemed ridiculous. It's just sex, there's nothing more to it, right?

Kurama shook his head. **'Ki** **t** **, sex is not just a physical thing.** **E** **motions are involved too. You have to be strong enough to be detached if you don't want your emotions to be involved.'**

'I can be detached too.' Can she?

The fox snorted. **'Please, we both know that you are emotionally involved in everything you do.'**

Naruto was about to protest, but then shut her mouth when she realized that he was right. People told her she'd always wore her heart on her sleeves, she couldn't help it even if she'd tried. It was just the way she was.

 **'Love isn't something you want to get involved with, it's a very messy business unlike the fairy tale crap they feed you with. Let me ask you something, are you ready to sleep with someone knowing that he was probably imagining someone else in your stead?'** He didn't wait for her to answer. **'And when you start wanting more than just sex? You will be filled with longing and that feeling will eat you up until it's the only thing you think about from morning to night. I'd hate for you to go through all that.'**

Naruto blinked as warmth spread in her. The fox was right and the fact that he was telling her all this meant that he actually cared about her.

 **'I don't want to have to deal with you when you cry because your mood will affect your mindscape and that will just get in the way of my rest.'**

And just like that the feeling evaporated leaving in it's place irritation. 'Geez, Kurama and here I thought you cared.' She said dryly.

 **'Don't get me wrong, I don't care what you do I just don't want to be the one to clean up your mess.'**

'Well for your information there won't be any mess to clean, because I'm not going to fall in love. I like Shikamaru as a friend and nothing more.' So why did she sound uncertain?

By the way the Kyuubi was staring at her he seemed to have picked up on her uncertainty.

'It's true.' She said a little too defensively.

 **'I didn't say anything.'** Kurama said making himself more comfortable to sleep.

Naruto crossed her arms in front of her chest. 'Well, you were thinking it.'

Kurama grunted. **'You're imagining things.'**

Naruto looked at him suspiciously for a second before uncrossing her arms. 'Oh, well. In case you're wondering I'm choosing option one.'

Another grunt came from the beast, but he didn't say anything else.

'Yeah.' Naruto said looking down, her fingers playing with the grasses. 'I mean, Shikamaru loves Temari and I really like her, you know. I don't want to be the girl to jeopardize their relationship. They make such a great couple.' She sighed, but then straightened up when it came out sounding wistful.

'I mean, the thing with Shikamaru is obviously temporary, I will act like nothing happened and avoid being alone with him until the feeling fades away completely. How hard can it be? But of course, I will have to apologize to him first for saying that awful thing about Temari. I really hope he can forgive me because he is my friend and I would really hate-'

 **'Naruto. You're rambling.'**

Her mouth shut closed and her cheeks reddened. 'Right.' She said taking a deep breath, 'All I'm trying to say is I'm not going to fall in love with Shikamaru no matter what happens.'

She just wished she could believe her words.

 **'Well,'** Kurama said looking away. **'Whatever happens, I'm stuck here** **.** **I** **t's not like I can go anywhere else anyway.'**

Naruto blinked but then her face slowly broke into a wide smile when she registered the meaning behind his words. She lunged herself at him in a hug. 'And here I was starting to believe you were a hopeless case.' She mumbled in his fur.

He harrumphed in embarrassment. **'Whatever, now get out of here before I make you, you troublesome woman.'**

Naruto laughed at the familiar term borrowed. So fitting considering the situation. She released him and stepped back.

'Goodnight, 'rama.'

 **'Night, kit.'**

A moment later her surrounding faded back into her crappy apartment. She sighed knowing that there was no way she'd be able to sleep tonight, she had too much to think about.

* * *

Shikamaru watched as the smoke flew from his nose, his dosage of cigarette had multiplied these past days. It doesn't help that he hadn't slept a wink the night before, he kept replaying his kiss with Naruto. He sighed taking another drag of his cigarette, he'd never wanted somebody the way he wanted Naruto. He wasn't stupid, he knew how lust operated, lust wanted what lust couldn't have. And he couldn't have Naruto. At least that's what he tried to tell himself, but it seemed that the more he fought against the feeling the more thoughts of Naruto's lips on his invaded him.

Another drag was taken as he thought of how his fingers caressed her soft cheeks. The taste of her tongue in his mouth, sweet and addictive. He cursed as felt his arousal throbbing and took a deep breath to calm his raging hormones. He'd had the same problem last night, and he'd had to take a very long shower to relieve himself. He took another drag only now realizing that he'd reach the end of his stump.

With a sighed he threw it on the ground and dug in his pocket for another cigarette. Of course thinking of last night made him recall of the conversation they'd had, of her suggestion.

 _It was more than a suggestion._ A little voice in his head said and he agreed. What she'd proposed was crazy not to mention ridiculous.

 _But you're considering it._

And he was. He couldn't deny that he'd spent most of the night lying on the bed running the idea in his head despite knowing he shouldn't. The thought of running his hands once more on her body sent shivers down his back, he could just imagine it.

He would kiss every inch of her until she doesn't remember her own name, until she'd start begging for him to take her and when he finally took her she would scream his name so loud he would start worrying about the neighbors and they'd both reach their climax and then... And then what? They would go back to acting awkwardly with each other? Or they would just act like nothing ever happened? What would happened when whatever it was they were feeling towards each other dissipated? Would things go back to normal between them or that would be the end of their friendship?

And here is a question he'd been dreading the answer to; What if something more than sex transpired between them? Will he be able to drop Temari and start something new with Naruto or is he going to be indecisive about his choice?

Those are all the questions running through his head as he tried to think of the outcome of his decision. As good as sleeping with Naruto would feel, he needed to think of all the possible consequences that would come of it.

 _"I don't know why you're always over thinking things_ _._ _"_

Naruto had said that, referring to him not immediately agreeing to her 'suggestion,' but she doesn't realized that he couldn't help it even if he tried. It's how he'd always got out of sticky situations, that's the reason why he was still alive. Always turning ideas in his head, analyzing the pros and cons of things. That's why he is Konoha's best tactician. His father did the same, it's practically honed in his blood. Think before you act, his father always told him.

He was on his fourth cigarette when he sensed someone approaching. He didn't move from his position where he was sitting on the roof, his thinking place.

Chouji plopped himself next to him. "We have a mission." He announced, to which Shikamaru raised an eyebrow in question.

"B-ranked, we're supposed to go arrest this guy named Tanaka Akira from Kumo who is supposedly hiding in a nearby village and take him to the border. There will be a team waiting for us. We leave at sunset." Chouji reported reading from the scroll he'd taken out.

Shikamaru contemplated the information for awhile. It didn't seem too hard, this mission could take them approximately three days unless of course they ran into trouble. The time it will take to look for the guy, the time to form a capture plan and the time to travel to the border and back.

He took a long drag of his cigarette before flicking the small stick on the floor. This mission could be good for him, he thought. A short break from everything, from thinking about her.

Chouji who had been staring at all the cigarette buds on the floor turned concerned eyes on him. "You've been smoking more lately. Are you okay, man?"

Shikamaru shrugged standing up and stretching his muscles that had fallen asleep.

"If there's something bothering you, you can talk-"

"I don't want to talk about it." He said quickly, when Chouji's face looked hurt he sighed sitting back down. "Sorry," he mumbled, "I'm just tired."

Chouji hesitated for a moment before asking. "Is whatever bothering you have to do with... With what I saw the other day?"

Shikamaru's expression turned confused. Chouji cleared his throat and elaborated awkwardly.

"Uhm you know... The thing with the orange top."

Shikamaru cursed inwardly when he understood what his friend was talking about, he'd completely forgotten about that incident. He ran his hands through his hair all the while cursing at his carelessness. This whole situation is affecting him more than he'd thought. He'd forgotten that he had promised Chouji an explanation for finding Naruto's top on his couch, but the thing is he doesn't have any explanation for what happened, he had yet to figure out what was going between the two of them.

"You don't have to tell me if you don't want." Chouji said mistaking his lack of explanation for reluctance.

Shikamaru shook his head. "No, no, it's just that I kinda don't know what to say." He took a deep breath, "The thing is that night was a mistake, we were both drunk. One moment we were just talking and the next it... It just happened." He finished lamely.

Chouji shifted uncomfortably and he wouldn't meet his eyes as he spoke, "When you say 'it just happened' you mean... Uhm... Okay don't hate me for asking this but I." he swallowed nervously, Shikamaru's eyebrows raised, he's never seen Chouji this nervous before. His friend was more of a laidback happy-go-lucky kind of guy, well, at least when you didn't eat his chips, but to see him like this was new to Shikamaru.

Chouji shifted again in his seat his hand itching to take out the chips in his pouch. "I just kinda of figured that since you broke up with Temari and all and... Well, Naruto was pretty drunk that night and you know her, she's always kind and I know you Shikamaru when you're drunk, you don't think properly, so um... Did you-"

"Wait," Shikamaru said standing up as the pieces of his best friend's rambling connected in his head. But it just couldn't be, there was no way Chouji would think that, was there?

"Are you trying to ask me if the sex between me and Naruto was consensual?" His voice was tight with controlled emotions as he said the words. Inwardly he was praying that he was wrong that his best friend meant something else, but when Chouji just looked away avoiding his eyes, it only confirmed his suspicions. He glared down at his friend, "You don't seriously think that I forced myself on Naruto just because I was drunk, do you?"

"Look I just had to ask." Chouji said.

"Fuck, Chouji how can you even think that? You know me better than that!" He ran his hands in his hair in frustration. "Chouji I would never... You know I would never do that."

Chouji sighed running his fingers in his own hair. "I know that you would never force yourself on someone, and I wasn't implying that. I'm sorry but I was just worried. Look, you just broke up with Temari and I just wanted to make sure that Naruto was willing, that she had sex with you because she wanted to and not because she thought you needed it, you know how Naruto can be."

He was right, Shikamaru knew exactly how Naruto could be. She was the type of girl that put people's happiness before her own and she'd always been one to sacrifice herself for people that didn't deserve it. She was too nice for her own good. He didn't blame Chouji for thinking that, that's what he would've thought too if he were in his place, because that was the right conclusion to come to for anyone that knew Naruto. Except it was wrong, the sex between the two of them was not a pity fuck, well, at least he didn't think it was. Naruto was a willing participant, she'd admitted just as much to him. In fact, she was the one that thought that he'd only slept with her because he felt sorry for her. Plus, they'd kissed last night, and he knew she wanted him just as much as he wanted her. And before his mind could conjure up the memory of the night before he decided to focus back on Chouji who was still waiting for him to speak.

Shikamaru sighed, sitting back down. "What we did was stupid and I regret it." Not all of it, but Chouji didn't need to know that. "We were drunk and things kind of went out of control."

And what an understatement that was.

"But I assure you," he continued staring at his friend in the eye to show how truthful he was being. "That whatever happened that night wouldn't have happened if she wasn't totally a hundred percent into it, Naruto isn't that stupid." It's not like she liked him _that_ way for her to make that kind of sacrifice. Imagine losing your virginity to your friend just because you felt sorry for them? Nah, even that is a bit of a stretch for Naruto. "Anyway, Naruto herself told me she wanted it when I'd asked her." He added just to put Chouji 's worries to rest.

And he was right. As soon as Chouji heard that last part he relaxed. He should be infuriated that his own best friend didn't trust him, but he couldn't bring himself to. Chouji was just being a good friend by worrying about Naruto. Naruto deserved people to worry about her since she never seemed to worry for herself.

"So," Chouji said after a moment of silence. "You and Naruto talked? There's no awkwardness between you two?"

Shikamaru shrugged looking away. "We talked, but I don't think the awkwardness will ever go away." Especially if they don't deal with whatever is going on between them.

Chouji nodded in understanding taking out his chips from his back pouch, and they both fell into a comfortable silence only broken by Chouji's crunching.

"Holly Shit, you slept with Naruto!" Chouji said with his eyes wide and mouth hanging open exposing his chewed chips. as if the situation only now dawned on him even though he probably hadn't stopped thinking about it since he left Shikamaru's place that day.

Shikamaru sent his friend a half disgusted and half bemusement look. "I thought we already established that." He said wryly.

"Yeah, and I don't know whether to punch you or feel pity for you." Chouji shook his head in disbelief. "Do you realize how many will have your head when they find out? Oh, have you thought of what Lady hokage will do to you when she finds out you used her surrogate daughter that way?" He shuddered for effect no doubt imagining all the gruesome things the Hokage will do to Shikamaru.

"Firstly, I did not use Naruto... At least not in the way you're saying, you make it sound so vile." Shikamaru grimaced a little before glaring at his friend. "Secondly, Hokage-sama won't do anything to me because she won't find out, you're not going to tell her, Chouji."

Chouji shrugged, "I won't, but Naruto might."

Shikamaru shook his head before lying on his back facing the sky. ' _N_ _o clouds today_ _._ _B_ _ummer._ _'_ "She won't, I already talked to her about it." She would have to if she wanted her 'suggestion' to work. _'I can't believe I'm actually considering it.'_ And why was he referring to it as that?

"I see," Chouji said with raised brows but then shrugged taking more bite of his chips. "Well, be thankful that it was just a one time thing."

When he only received silence as an answer, his chips froze halfway to his mouth and he hesitantly turned toward his friend. "Shikamaru? This is a one time thing, right?"

Shikamaru sighed, glancing away. "It's complicated."

Chouji's face had turned pale. "Shikamaru, please tell me you didn't sleep with her again."

Shikamaru sighed again, this time he took out another cigarette and lit it up. He contemplated what to tell his friend. On one hand he didn't think it was fair for him to tell Chouji while he'd made Naruto promise not to tell anyone, but on the other hand he needed to speak to someone before he drove himself crazy or made a mistake. Plus, Chouji already knew about their other mistake, so he decided to be vague with his response.

"I didn't sleep with her again."

Chouji slumped in relief. "Good, and please keep it that way."

"But we kissed."

"What?!"

Shikamaru nodded amused despite himself at his friend's reaction. "Two times," he confirmed. "I think I might be attracted to her. Well, physically at least."

Chouji shook his head vigorously, he set his chips aside before giving his full attention back to Shikamaru, which was rare because as far Shikamaru had known his friend his food had always been first priority except when duty is involved.

"You are not... I repeat you are NOT attracted to Naruto... Your hormones are confusing you because you broke up with Temari."

Shikamaru blew the smoke out of his nose in frustration, he shook his head. "That's what I keep telling myself because it's the only reason that makes sense, but I can't help feeling that there's something more to it."

Chouji sent him a pitying look no doubt, thinking that Temari breaking up with him had affected him badly.

Shikamaru looked away, inhaling another puff of smoke. Maybe it had affected him more than he'd like to admit, he should really go talk to Temari.

Come to think of it, he narrowed his eyes in thought, why hadn't he done that yet? He should've immediately gone to her when the hokage had propositioned him, yet he'd postponed it. His reason being that he wanted to make sure things were cool with Naruto, but now that they've somewhat reached an agreement there was no need to keep stalling. The right choice is to go to the hokage ask her for the permission slip to leave the village and go find Temari.

At least that's what he should've done as a loving boyfriend, it was partly his fault too. He should've tried harder to explain the reason why he didn't want to get married. He shouldn't have let things end with Temari the way it had, he should've tried harder to make her understand, and maybe all of this wouldn't have happened.

"Look," Chouji said his face softening. "I'm not trying to tell you what to do. It's your decision to make, and I know you'll will reach the right one. I just don't want it to blow back in your faces. Are you ready to destroy what you have with Temari for what might just be a fling?"

Shikamaru looked up, unable to deny the wisdom in his friend's words. Was he really ready to throw all three years with Temari for a temporary thing with Naruto? Surely it's not worth it. At this images of Naruto's lips on his flashed and he found himself uncertain.

He shook his head, Chouji was still waiting for reassurance from him and he didn't want to disappoint his friend. So with his best acting face that even Chouji his childhood friend couldn't differentiate, he nodded and lied. "You're right, man I don't know what I was thinking."

Chouji looked relieved, he cracked a small smile as he resumed eating.

Shikamaru looked away guiltily as he discreetly uncrossed his fingers from his back. They both stayed in silence until it was time to go on the mission.

* * *

 **HAPPY NEW YEAR EVERYONE!**


	8. Chapter 8

Kakashi let out a giggle as he turned a page from his book. This book was just too good, no matter how many times he'd read it-fourteen times to be exact-he never gets tired of it, not to mention the other six volumes that was stashed on the top shelf situated in his room. Jiraiya, bless his soul, had been a formidable writer. Too bad he hadn't thought of leaving a legacy to continue his work, Kakashi thought mournfully. Ah well, at least he'd left notes on sealing in case anyone was interested and luckily someone was interested, so there's that.

He turned another page glancing down at his charge only to blink at the sight. He was sitting in the tree supervising Naruto as she worked on seals, make sure she didn't kill herself recklessly. He must have been distracted somehow, because he hadn't noticed that she'd stopped writing in her notebook.

The girl in question laid sprawled on her stomach on the grassy floor with books spread out in front of her, one hand was propped under her cheek and the other one was holding a pen which she kept biting the tip of. She was staring into space, face deep in thought.

Whatever she was thinking about must have been pretty serious, Naruto actually had worry lines marring her cute forehead and a small frown seemed to be tugging at her lips. And what really disturbed him was the small sigh she kept letting out at every interval. And it wasn't the usual I-am-tired kind of sigh, it was a mix of sadness and wistfulness. Which was weird, considering as long as he'd known Naruto he'd never heard her sigh in such a manner. She would growl, cry in frustration or punch when something would bother her, the point is she always voiced her troubles, well, most of the times. Often than not, she wouldn't show that something was bothering her so as not to worry anyone.

Still, it was greatly disconcerting to see Naruto like that, she was just too quiet. Kakashi jumped down from his perch and made his way to her. She didn't notice as he approached her, still deep in thought. He snapped his book shut loudly.

Naruto jumped at the noise, startled. She blinked up at him.

"Everything alright, Naruto?" Kakashi asked, scrutinizing her with his lone eye.

"Uh?" Naruto said a little disoriented. She grinned sheepishly, rubbing the spot behind her head as two red dots appeared on her cheeks, embarrassed at having been caught. "Sorry, did you say something, sensei?"

"I asked if you were ok." Kakashi said his tone amused and a little exasperated.

Naruto's brow furrowed in confusion, "What do you mean?"

Kakashi rolled his visible eye, pocketing his book in his back pouch. "You were very deep in thought."

Naruto shook her head to clear it. "Yeah, I'm fine sensei." She said flashing him a smile before going back to the forgotten note books in front of her. She tried to concentrate back on the notes, but it was hard since her mind was elsewhere.

Kakashi sighed. "Naruto, we've done enough studying for today."

Naruto shook her head stubbornly. "I said I'm fine."

"Naruto." His voice didn't brook any argument.

Naruto's shoulders slumped in defeat. "Alright." She sat up and started packing her stuff.

Kakashi watched her pack. Her focus still wasn't fully there. Kakashi sighed running a hand through his hair, already regretting what he was about to say.

"Okay, tell me what's wrong."

"It's nothing serious, I don't want to bother you." Naruto said quietly, not looking at him.

Kakashi sat next to her, making himself comfortable. Now she really got him interested. "It's no bother at all. Plus, I don't have anything better to do except read my books which can wait. So you might as well tell me. Maybe I might be able to help."

Naruto was quiet for a moment. It seemed she was considering whether to tell him or not. Kakashi waited patiently knowing that if he rushed her, she would just clamp up, give him that big fake smile she seemed to favor so much and flee. That would just not do, Naruto needed to know that she could count on people for help.

"Well, uhm..." Naruto said after a long moment of consideration. She shifted awkwardly fiddling with her hands. "Do you think I'm attractive?"

Kakashi blinked. _'Okay, that was a little unexpected.'_

Naruto's face turned red when she realized what she'd said and how it may have sounded. She rambled. "Not that I want you to think I'm attractive or anything... I mean I want to know if I'm attractive but not in the way that you think because that will be just gross... I want to know is it possible for a guy to be attracted to me? A guy that is obviously not you haha... No offence to you Kakashi, I'm sure you will find there's plenty of women your age that might be interested as old as you are... I mean I'm _way_ younger than you and -"

"Naruto," Kakashi interrupted suppressing his laugh. "You're rambling."

Naruto's face turned red. "I just wanted to make sure you didn't get the wrong idea."

He could have teased her about it, but instead he decided to give her a break and tried to discern the issue behind her question. Naruto wasn't the type to care much for her looks, so the fact that she was asking meant one of two things. A) She had suddenly turned into the type of girl that obsess about their looks, possible but highly unlikely. Or B) She'd met a guy. Kakashi blinked at the last option. Could it be? He studied Naruto, he was not an expert on these sort of thing but he'd been around teenagers, more than he'd like, to spot the signs and they're usually the same.

Coloring of the cheeks? Check.

Fiddling of the hands? Check.

No eye contact? Check.

There could be more signs that he was missing, but those were the obvious signs he could see. Naruto hid her emotions surprisingly well. Apart from a little embarrassment mixed in with shyness she didn't show signs of having a crush on anyone. Which was probably good, since he'd hate to have to run from her if she started squealing like some of the teenage girls he'd come across. Then again, he could be wrong. Maybe something else was bothering her.

He silently prayed it was the case, love advice had never been his strong point. He could still remember getting Minato-sensei into trouble one day when the older man had been desperate enough to ask the then 12 years old Kakashi for advice for an apology token. How was Kakashi to know that Kushina-san hated tomatoes because of some nickname they used to tease her with during her academy days? He'd just thought, since she loved cooking she could spice up some of her recipe with tomatoes, so he'd suggested Minato to buy Kushina some tomatoes on his way home. Let's just say the couch had been Minato's companion for a week and in turn Minato had made their training hell.

Not to mention Asuma, poor sucker may he rest in peace. Once asked Kakashi for advice on wooing a girl (he'd been planning on wooing Kurenai) so Kakashi had suggested he buys her lilies because every girl loved them (according to him), and guess what? Turned out Kurenai was allergic to them, suffice to say their date hadn't been romantic at all and Asuma hadn't spoken to Kakashi for days after that. He digressed, but the point is Kakashi sucks at giving love advice.

He contemplated standing up and walking away from this situation before it was too late, but as he looked at Naruto's pathetically sad cute face still waiting on his reply he sighed in defeat. Well, maybe he'd gotten more wiser in the love department during the years. At least he hoped so, for both their sakes.

"Honestly?" When Naruto nodded he said. "I think you're the most beautiful girl I've ever seen, just like your mother."

Naruto smiled shyly shaking her head. "My mother was very beautiful." She mumbled wistfully.

"Yes, she was. But remember you have both the Namikaze and Uzumaki blood gene in you and your father was no ogre either, which makes you more beautiful than any princess I know." Kakashi said ruffling her hair.

Naruto laughed ducking her head away. "A princess huh? I didn't know you regarded me so highly, Sensei." She teased.

Kakashi smiled at her disbelief, but he was glad that he'd managed to make her laugh. A brooding Naruto didn't sit well with him.

She sobered up quickly though, biting her lips she hesitated choosing her words carefully before saying. "Do you think I'm attractive enough for a guy to like me?"

So he'd been right, there was a boy involved.

"Is this your way of telling me you have a crush on somebody and you don't know if they feel the same about you?"

Naruto looked at him like he'd just sprouted two heads. "What? No, that's ridiculous. What gave you have that idea?"

Kakashi paused wondering if she was being serious, when he saw that she was he sighed exasperatedly. "Naruto, you just asked me if I thought you were attractive enough for a guy to like you."

"Yeah, but what gave you the idea that I'm having a crush on someone?" Naruto asked brow furrowed in confusion.

"Well, the way you phrased your question made me think there was a boy involved."

"Oh... Uhm, right." Naruto said looking away to hide her flaming cheeks.

Kakashi blinked at the weird behavior, and he started second guessing his decision to stay. This was turning out to be well... A little out of his depth. "So does that mean there's a boy involved?"

"Well, yes... I mean no- maybe a little." She added quickly before he could speak. "But not the way you think."

"Okay," Kakashi said slowly. "So the reason you're worried about your looks is because there's a boy involved but somehow you're not romantically interested in him?" He raised an eyebrow when she nodded slowly. "Should I be worried?"

Naruto shook her head. "No, no... It's just something happened- nothing to worry about- and it got me thinking... You know, if it was possible."

"Of course it is," Kakashi said with a smile. "Any guy would be stupid not to like you."

Naruto returned the smile hesitantly. "Really? You're not just saying that?"

"Definitely."

Naruto sighed in relief. "Thanks Kakashi-sensei. Iit means a lot."

"You're welcome, but that's not really what's bothering you is it?" He asked studying her intensely and making her squirm under his gaze.

"I don't know what you're talking about." Naruto replied avoiding his eyes.

"One, you're a very bad liar and two you're being very vague which is unlike you, and it gives me the impression that there is more to it."

Naruto blew a breath, her hand went up to rub the spot behind her head nervously. "You know me so well, Kakashi-sensei."

Kakashi hummed. "No, you're just terrible at hiding your emotions."

Naruto's brow twitched. "Is that so?"

"Indeed."

She punched him playfully, "well, not everyone is a masterful liar like yourself."

Kakashi mock gasped. "I never lie!"

Naruto rolled her eyes at him. "So what do you call your lame excuses?"

"They're not lies, and you my cute little student, are trying to change the subject."

"I'm not little anymore." Naruto couldn't help grumbling before sighing. "You wouldn't understand."

"Try me." He replied sitting more comfortably to show that he wasn't moving until she spilled. No way was she going to leave without telling him, his interest was peaked.

Naruto seemed surprised at his persistence before a small smile made it's way slowly to her lips. "Okay, but you must promise me not to tell anyone what we discuss here. If you tell anyone, I know where you keep your perverted books." She threatened.

"Whoa! No need to bring my precious books into this. I promise I won't say anything." Kakashi said waving his hands in a placating manner.

Naruto nodded her head satisfied. "Good."

They fell silent, while Naruto tried to think of how to tell him without breaking her word to Shikamaru to keep it a secret, but she really needed someone's opinion, someone that wasn't a demon fox.

 _ **'Well, thanks for the vote of confidence kit.'**_ She heard the voice of her companion.

 _'Oh stuff it, will you.'_

 _ **'You asked for my opinion and I gave it. You're not entitled to follow it if you don't want.'**_ The Kyuubi's voice dripped of boredom.

She knew the fox was right, he'd laid out the options for her and she took the one that was right. Yet, here she was about to ask Kakashi-sensei for advice. _'I just need another point of view.'_ She told herself.

Kurama snorted in her mindscape. _**'More like you just want an assurance.'**_

Naruto's hands closed into fists, she gritted her teeth. _'You're wrong.'_

 _ **'Admit it, Naruto, you're hoping that your teacher tells you that the second option is right. Despite choosing the safer option you still have doubt. You want him to assert that sleeping with one of your friend's boyfriend is fine as long as she doesn't find out.'**_ His voice was slightly mocking.

Naruto tightened her fist until her knuckles turned white. Kurama could be very cruel sometimes, but she had to remind herself that he meant well so she shouldn't let him get under her skin. Plus, he was wrong. She didn't have any doubt about her choice being the right one, she just didn't like it very much. She didn't know how to avoid Shikamaru without arousing suspicions. She just wanted to know what her Sensei would do if he were in her place.

There was a pause in her mindscape to which she imagined the fox raising a fury brow in a dubious manner and then he said very deliberately. _**'I didn't peg you to be the denial type, Naruto.'**_

Kakashi's voice stopped her from replying. It's a good thing too because she didn't know what to say to that.

"Naruto?"

Naruto opened her eyes, she didn't realize that she'd closed them. She blinked her blue eyes at him before smiling sheepishly. "Ano, sorry Kakashi-sensei. I was just talking to Kurama."

"It's fine, Naruto." Kakashi smiled behind his mask at least she thought he did by the crinkle at the corner of his lone visible eye. "Look, if you really don't want to talk about it you don't have to. I understand."

Naruto shook her head. "I want to." She hesitated a little more before saying carefully. "I want your perspective on something."

Kakashi nodded, inwardly wondering what this was all about. Naruto being secretive? That should be interesting.

"Right," she tugged on her hair nervously, she'd tied it in her usual pigtails that morning. "Hypothetically speaking right?" She waited until he nodded. "Say you have a friend, a girl. You guys have nothing in common or anything, you're just friends. And then one day you do something stupid like kiss her or maybe more... But whatever, the point is what you did was a stupid, stupid mistake and you shouldn't have crossed that line, but you did. Are you following me so far?" She asked when she saw her Sensei's eye was glazed over.

Kakashi thought for a moment before nodding slowly. "I... Think so."

"Great!" Naruto said brightly, now warming up to her story. Kakashi blinked deciding not to comment on the change of mood he just chalked it up to hormones. "As I was saying, you made a stup-"

"I think we already established that I made a stupid mistake. Hypothetically speaking, of course." Kakashi interrupted, he wanted her to get the point.

"Yeah, but I was just trying to emphasize how stupid of a mistake it was."

"You didn't have to, I got it the first time."

Naruto waved her hand dismissively. "Yeah, yeah. Moving on, where was I?"

"I crossed some kind of line?" He offered.

"Not you, both of you crossed that invisible line of friendship and... Well, I don't know what's on the other side of the other line, but you both crossed it and you realized you actually had fun and you want to repeat it again-"

"The stupid mistake?"

"Yes, but only now you realized it wasn't as stupid as it seemed... Oh, who am I kidding it was _very_ stupid but you just don't care so you decide to do it again. The only problem is the girl has a boyfriend but they kind of broke up... And you and the boyfriend are friends too. So, what would you do?" She was breathless by the end of her rant. She swallowed to get her breath as she waited for his answer.

Kakashi ran the story over in his head, before nodding slowly in approval as if he'd drawn a conclusion. "Naruto you have an overactive imagination, and your story telling is quite fascinating. Are you sure you don't want to continue writing the Icha Icha series?"

Naruto looked affronted. "I'm not making that up!"

"Oh?" Kakashi smirked under his mask. Gotcha. "So it really happened?"

Naruto realized her mistake, and she tried to backtrack. "Yes... No... I mean it's just an hypothesis."

"Hmm, so which one of the two characters are you? Me or the girl?" He asked curiously.

"I-I, N-neither!" She denied unconvincingly. "Can you just tell me? Please?" She sent him a pleading look.

Kakashi studied his student. Somehow he doubted Naruto was the girl in the story since she didn't have a boyfriend. So that meant she was 'me' as in the male character, and she tried to trick him by swapping the genders. Smart, but not smart enough to fool him. But of course she could be talking about someone else altogether, but the fact that she'd stuttered when he'd asked her told him a different story.

He frowned at the idea of Naruto being involved with the opposite sex, no idea if he should be happy about that or apprehensive. On one side it was good that she'd finally decided to have fun before it's too late; because let's face it shinobi life was very short, you never know when will be the last time you return from a mission, but of course that's not what he wished of his student. She will live a long life if he had a thing to say about it. But what about when she became hokage? She would never have time for herself or her family-if she ever decided to have a family. So it was good that she found someone to have fun with.

But he was a little hesitant, because these sort of things never ended well, especially love triangles from the sound of it. Those ones always ended up messy. The lack of the word date hadn't been lost on him, Naruto made it sound like just armless fun, but how much of the story should he trust? He paused when he realised that that's what Naruto's intention were by telling him the story as an hypothesis. He didn't know which parts were made up or real. And there was also the identity of the boy to consider.

' _In love with someone else huh?_ _'_ Kakashi mused. Now who did he know in Naruto's circle of friends that fit the bill? Uhm, hard to say considering they all seemed to be infatuated with each other.

Well, it seemed she got him stuck there. He cannot guess the identity of the mysterious guy without more facts.

He felt proud for his blond student, she seemed to have grown a lot. He would never have guessed she would come up with something like that.

Now what to tell her, he scratched his chin thoughtfully. Well he could always tell her that it wasn't a good idea, nothing is worth the trouble that it would cause if this decided to blow up in their faces. Or he could tell her what she wanted to hear. Which was to go for it. Otherwise why else would she be worried?

If she wasn't considering it she wouldn't have bothered telling him. She would've just scoffed at the idea and forgotten about it, but the fact that it's bothering her meant that she'd been thinking about doing it again, whatever 'it' is. He didn't know what teenagers got up to these days, and frankly he didn't want to know.

"Well," he finally said after a moment of thoughtful silence. "I will tell you, but keep in mind that what I would do is not necessarily the best option, okay?"

Naruto nodded, already knowing he'd figured out that she was 'him' in the hypothesis, she made sure he wouldn't guess Shikamaru's identity though.

"Okay, let see if it was me what would I do?" Kakashi said looking up at the sky thoughtfully. "I guess, if the sex is good I won't mind doing it again."

Naruto squirmed, uncomfortable talking about sex with her teacher. What even gave him the idea that sex was involved was beyond her. Even though it was involved, he shouldn't have easily guessed it.

Kakashi looked at her knowingly, and she just knew that he was smirking under his mask. "Was the sex good, Naruto?"

Naruto bit her tongue and forced herself to keep from blushing. He was just trying to trick her into admitting that sex was involved, he caught her once but she wasn't going to fall for it a second time. "I wouldn't know about that, I didn't say anything about sex, did I?"

"I suppose you didn't," Kakashi shrugged uncaringly but he still had that knowing look in his eye. "But I'm a grown man, kissing is not enough for me. Kissing is for debutant like you."

Naruto's eyebrow twitched in irritation, debutant uh. _'I will show him debutant.'_

 _ **'Calm down, this is just what he wants. To get a rise out of you so that you'll slip up and tell him what he would like to know.'**_

Naruto froze. Is that so _? 'Well played sensei and you almost got me there.'_ Naruto took a deep breath to try and calm herself. This is all her fault, what was she thinking asking _Kakashi-sensei_ for advice? Of course he would turn it into a cat and mouse game or is it a dog and cat? She thought, referring to his summons. Naruto glared at him. "Whatever, you old pervert."

Kakashi pouted under his mask. "I'm not old."

Naruto rolled her eyes. "Yes you are, and the sooner you admit it the better it is for you. Those grey hair of yours won't keep covering up the silver ones growing underneath forever."

Kakashi narrowed his eye at the mischievous glint he could see in her eyes. "Is that so?"

"Yep!" Naruto said sticking her tongue at him.

Kakashi laughed ruffling her hair. "Whatever, brat."

Naruto scowled at Kakashi's smug face before letting out a chuckle.

"So," Naruto said slowly after a moment. "You're just going to do it again?"

Kakashi nodded knowing that she was referring to her hypothesis.

Naruto frowned thoughtfully. "What about the third party? The one that she's in love with?"

Kakashi shrugged. "As long as he's not in the picture, it shouldn't be a problem."

Naruto bit her lips in hesitation before deciding to ask. "But what if he is in the picture?"

Kakashi stared at her. "Then that would be a problem, I don't think it's wise to get involved with someone that's already taken, Naruto."

Naruto shook her head stubbornly. "We're talking about you, Kakashi, what would you do?" She pressed.

No honorific, Kakashi thought. She must be getting impatient. He sighed, well, it wouldn't hurt to tell her and if he was lucky she might not even try to take his words to heart. "I guess I would still do it, I mean it's not my fault that she can't resist my dashing looks."

Naruto refrained from snorting and pointing out that no one can see his face therefore no one knew whether he was good looking or not. Instead she waited for him to continue.

"Plus, if she really wanted the guy she wouldn't have come to me in the first place."

"But you guys are friends!" Naruto insisted. "Wouldn't it be like betraying your friendship?"

"Oh? I'm friends with the hypothetical boyfriend?" He really seemed surprised. Naruto refrained from throttling him in place, instead she nodded once. "Hm I guess I'm doing him a favour then. I can't imagine dating someone that would sleep with a friend of mine."

"Hey, it's not her fault that she can't control her desires." Naruto felt the need to defend.

Kakashi waved dismissively. "It all comes down to choices. People choose to do what they do, consciously or not."

"Wow," Naruto blinked, now looking at her teacher in a new light. "That's a bit cold, don't you think?"

Kakashi shrugged uncaringly, taking out his book from his pouch to read. "I'm not exactly a nice person. Anyway, this is just an hypothesis like you said. What I would do doesn't necessarily mean I might do it if it ever happens."

Naruto nodded absently, her mind running through everything Kakashi said. So according to him, the third party is not a problem as long as they weren't in the picture. Well, that sucked considering Temari was pretty much in the picture, and Naruto didn't think she wanted to use Kakashi's method either. She wasn't a mean person, she would never deliberately hurt someone just for her own benefit. To be fair, Kakashi did say that what he would do was not necessarily a good option. She'd already made her choice anyway, which is for the best.

One thing Kakashi was right about though, was if Shikamaru really wanted Temari he wouldn't have slept with her nor kissed her. But there's also the fact that he and Temari had broken up to consider. Naruto didn't think Shikamaru would have looked at her as anything but a friend if he'd still been together with Temari. What if she was just some kind of replacement until Temari comes back into the picture?

To her shame Naruto realized that she didn't really mind, as long as she got to experience that night again. And it's not like they're together, right? So maybe it's not going to hurt Temari... Much. After all, she'd been the one to break up with him. Maybe the sandy haired girl wouldn't be too resentful about the whole thing. Then again, considering the circumstances of their break up maybe she would. Agh! This was just taking her back in circles.

Naruto's attention was pulled from her thoughts when Kakashi stood up, apparently ready to go. He dusted himself in one motion and turned to look down at her.

"As your teacher, I would advise you to follow your gut and not your heart. But knowing you, you probably don't know which side your gut is." Naruto scowled at the jab but Kakashi held out his hand to stop her protest. "So what I'm going tell you is, if you think what you're doing is going to hurt anyone then don't do it."

Naruto looked down. "I don't think it would hurt her, I mean they're not even together right? But I'm not sure she will be happy about it either, and I really don't want to come in between the two of them in case they work things out, ya know?"

Naruto had given in him another clue, but it seemed she'd given up trying to pretend it wasn't about her.

Work things out uh, Kakashi thought, so that means the two mysterious friends had broken up. ' _Now who do I know that fits all the clues_ _._ _H_ _e and I need to have a very private talk.'_ Kakashi might've wanted Naruto to have fun, but it sounded to him that the guy was just using Naruto as some kind of replacement for the other girl.

Naruto was bound to be hurt at the end, she seemed too invested in this. He could just tell her to stop considering it or she might get hurt, but he didn't think she would listen to him because it seemed she'd already made up her mind even if she doesn't know it yet. The fact that she was considering the whole thing was proof.

Kakashi adjusted the grip on his book smiling down at her. "Well, you just have to make sure you make a decision that is right for you then." With that he walked away with a wave.

Naruto watched him go until he disappeared out of the field. She sighed, lying on her back on the grass. "How do I know what's right for me?" She mumbled looking up at the sky, it was clear today, Shikamaru must be disappointed. _'The question is, why does something wrong feels so right?'_

Naruto shook her head to clear it and with it her mood, she didn't like feeling depressed. And her mood had been like that more often than she'd like these past days, she needed to get herself together. It's not like Shikamaru had agreed, the guy obviously didn't want to sleep with her again.

Whatever, it's not like she had time for distractions anyway, she needed to train to be hokage and for that she needed Sasuke's help and she owed him a spar. With that, she packed up the rest of her stuff and was gone in a flash of orange.

* * *

"Morning."

Naruto looked up from where she was sitting with a smile. "Good morning, Sakura-chan." She said cheerfully.

Sakura eyed her outfit in distaste. "Back in your trousers, I see." She said sitting down. They'd both planned to have breakfast together before Sakura had to go to the hospital.

"It's more comfortable." Naruto shrugged.

Sakura rolled her eyes and decided to give it up as a lost cause. After ordering something to eat they both started eating.

"So," Naruto started after short moment of silence. "How's your work at the hospital?"

Sakura shrugged, "Quiet. We haven't gotten a lot of patients lately but I guess it's a good thing."

Naruto nodded in agreement. "Definitely. It means people have stopped getting sick and missions have gotten less dangerous."

Sakura nodded distractedly. "Uhm, yeah. Listen, Naruto." When Naruto looked up in question she said. "What I said the other night... Uhm can we just forget it?"

Naruto's brow furrowed in confusion before realisation dawned on her. She'd completely forgotten about Sakura breaking down after their mission and telling her about the fact that she still had feelings for Sasuke. Naruto inwardly slumped in shame, she'd been so busy thinking about her situation with Shikamaru that she hadn't given a second thought about her friend's dilemma. And now it seemed Sakura was embarrassed about her little breakdown, but to be fair Sakura had been drunk and Naruto understood that her friend wasn't herself that night. She just wished she could help Sakura somehow.

Maybe she could go talk to Sasuke and make him see that the pink-haired girl was sincere in her feelings for him. Then she remembered what Sakura told her about the probability of Sasuke having feelings for _her,_ which was ridiculous to Naruto. Sasuke and her were just friends, albeit friends that fought all the time. But incase it was true and he did indeed have feelings for her...

"Naruto, did you hear me?" Sakura nudged Naruto with her foot.

Naruto looked up from her thoughts. "Sure, Sakura whatever you say."

Sakura smiled in relief. "Thanks, Naruto."

And they both resumed eating their breakfast. If Sasuke did have feelings for her, that could be a problem. Not to mention it could be awkward. Naruto shook her head inwardly. No, there's no proof that the bastard liked her in that way. But just incase, she would have to find a way to discover if Sasuke did have feelings for her and _if_ he did, Naruto would just have to cut those feelings before it got any further, she decided with finality. Now how to find out... Uhm, she could always ask him surely he wou-

"Hello, bitches!" Ino said loudly plopping herself in the seat between the two girls.

Sakura reddened in embarrassment at all the dirty looks being sent their way.

"Ino." She growled softly.

"What?" Ino blinked innocently at her. She turned to wink at Naruto who was grinning behind her cup.

"So, what you guys talking about?" She asked, taking some of Sakura's eggs and eating it.

Sakura glared at her. "We were just talking about how much of a pig you are."

Ino froze narrowing her eyes. "Really? And I suppose your forehead need to eat too because you've got bread crumbs on it, billboard brow."

Sakura fell for the trap and tried to wipe her forehead, when she saw that there was nothing she sent daggers to her best friend slash rival who had a victorious smirk on her face.

"You-"

"Come on, you guys stop arguing." Naruto interrupted Sakura's comeback. "You guys fight worse than Sasuke and I."

The two friends glared at each other some more before settling down.

"Fine." Sakura said going back to her coffee which had gotten cold. She grimaced and called the waitress for another serving. Seeing as Ino was still eating her eggs she rolled her eyes and pushed her plate towards the platinum blonde who was too happy to oblige.

Naruto shook her head at her two friend's antics.

"Weren't you supposed to be on a mission?" Sakura said as a cute waiter came and dropped a new fresh cup of coffee on their table. "Thanks."

Ino gave the waiter a flirtatious smile, batting her eyelashes. "Can I have a cup too?"

The waiter smiled. "Absolutely, ma'am."

"Oh please, call me Ino." Ino said in a sweet voice leaning forward to expose more of her cleavage.

The waiter's gaze immediately latched on them before clearing his throat, his cheeks tinting pink. He looked away. "Uhm sure, do you want some milk into your coffee, Ino-san?" The poor guy didn't know where else to look.

Ino pouted at the honorific, she sighed in mock disappointment before shaking her head to his question. "No, make it plain, and could you bring me more of these delicious eggs?"

"Of course, ma'am." The waiter bowed but then her cleavage was in perfect height with his eyes, straightening quickly he stammered an apology before making a hasty retreat.

Ino laughed as she watched him go, she turned to see Sakura giving her a dirty look and Naruto with mouth her gaping wide open, breakfast in display.

"What?" Ino blinked innocently.

Sakura shook her head in exasperation. "You're shameless."

Ino shrugged. "I can't help that they make it too easy for me."

"Whatever, you didn't answer my question."

"Uh? Oh, nah Shikamaru and Chouji went alone I was busy with something else. They should be back today if they're not already back."

Naruto perked up at hearing Shikamaru's name mentioned. So that was why she hadn't seen him lately, she mused. She'd thought he was avoiding her somehow. Not that she would blame him if he were.

"Speaking of Shikamaru," Sakura said, concern replacing the annoyance on her face. "How's he handling the break up?" Ino had told her about Temari breaking up with the shadow master, more like she complained about it, Sakura thought wryly. Apparently her friend was convinced that it was all Shikamaru's fault.

Ino scowled crossing her arms. "The baka wouldn't talk about it, but I'm sure he isn't even sad about it. You should be more concerned about Temari, the poor girl must be devastated."

Sakura nodded in agreement. "I can't begin to imagine what she's going through. Three years is not easy to get over from."

Naruto who was quiet until then decided to talk. "But from what I heard she broke up with him." She pointed out feeling the need to defend him somehow.

"Yeah, but she had a good reason to. He left her when she needed him the most. I mean, she came to him because the council is pressurizing her to get married and he flat out said no, saying he's not ready; I call bullshit!" Ino said slamming her hands flat lightly on the table, and making the people sitting close to them jump.

Naruto shook her head. "So what if he's not ready? You can't blame him for that, he is still young after all. Who gets married at that age?"

"Uhm, hello? We're ninjas, which means we have a very short life. Nineteen might as well be the perfect age to get married."

Naruto rolled her eyes. "I don't see you married."

Before a fight could form between the two blonds Sakura interrupted.

"Hey, guys come on. For all we know things didn't exactly happen the way we think." She said rationally, trying to calm them down without being accused of taking sides. "Maybe there's something more to it."

"Yeah, maybe he cheated on her or something. That is if it isn't too troublesome for him to do, he probably is too lazy to look at another girl." Ino said with a smirk an attempt at lightening the mood. She waved a dismissive hand to the waiter who returned with her order without giving him a glance, he frowned but went without saying a word.

"It's called faithfulness. It means he respect Temari-san enough not to cheat on her." Sakura reasoned, a hint of approval in her voice.

Naruto blew a silent breath, trying not to look guilty because that was too close for comfort. "Maybe it's love." She mumbled.

Ino snorted. "If he loved her I don't think marriage would've been a problem."

Naruto gritted her teeth in irritation. "We don't even know if the council is really behind all of this?"

Ino rolled her eyes as if speaking to an idiot. "Of course they are, why would Temari lie?"

Naruto shrugged. "I don't know, but shouldn't we have heard anything from Baa-Chan if it was a council-related situation?"

Ino narrowed her eyes irritably, fed up with Naruto. "What's up with you? Why are you taking Shikamaru's side?"

"Why aren't you? I thought he was your friend." She shot back totally avoiding the question considering she hadn't the slightest clue why she was defending him.

Ino glared at her. "Of course he's my friend, which is why I don't understand why he allowed his girlfriend of three years to break up with him and to top it all he hasn't gone to talk to her yet, and it's been a full week already!" She said, frustration coloring her tone.

"I believe that's none of your business, Ino." An annoyed voice cut in before Naruto could respond.

They turned to see Shikamaru standing close to their table, his expression set in annoyance. They hadn't heard him approach.

He stared at each girl in turn, his eyes paused momentarily on Naruto. He was surprised to see her face blank, but her eyes were full of emotions he couldn't quite read. He could barely see relief and confusion, but before he could read any further she dropped her gaze to the cup in her hands. When she looked back up there was only determination written on her face, but before he could analyze the sudden change Ino interrupted him reminding him of the reason why he was there.

"What do you mean it's none of my business? You're my friend and I need to make sure you're not making a huge mistake!" Ino shrieked glaring at him.

Shikamaru winced at the noise. "Look, I understand that you're worried about me and I appreciate it, but I would like you to bug off now. My fault or not you can't change what happened. All the details are my business so just lay off."

Ino glared harder at him and he spotted a little hurt in there too but he ignored it. Ino needed to know when to leave things alone, having a discussion about his relationship in a public coffee shop, loudly at that, was _not_ okay with Shikamaru. To top it all she'd been arguing with Naruto about it; he hadn't heard much but from what he'd caught he presumed Naruto was defending him where as Ino thought he was the worse scum to ever walk the earth. He felt a little bitter to know that one of his best friends thought the worse of him, but whatever, Ino needed to realize that not every story had a fairytale ending.

Brushing off her glare he made his way around the table to sit down. "I'm not even here for this, I'm here because you're both needed at the hospital." He said tiredly laying his head on the table.

"A patient?" Sakura who had been quiet since he'd arrived said.

Shikamaru lifted a shoulder in a shrug. "I don't know, but it's the hokage that sent me."

"Oh, well we better go then." She said standing up. "Come on, Ino."

Sakura nudged the platinum blond who was still glaring daggers at Shikamaru's head. Seeing that the dark head was ignoring her, she let out an annoyed huff before standing up and without saying goodbye she walked out of the shop.

Sakura sighed, dropping money to cover her and Ino's food she turned to the other two with a smile. "Well, I will see you around you two."

Naruto smiled back. "Bye, Sakura-chan."

Sakura waved as she followed after Ino.

When they were both alone Naruto contemplated whether to stay or go, but decided she might as well stay. They had an unfinished business to talk about and Naruto would make sure everything was settled between the two of them today. She was fed with all the confusion with her emotions. She was tired of feeling all these things that she couldn't explain and she still didn't know whether sleeping with Shikamaru one last time would be the right thing to do.

"Careful, you might hurt yourself."

Naruto looked up to see Shikamaru staring at her with a smirk. Her brow furrowed in confusion.

"You were in deep thought." He elaborated with a teasing smirk.

When she realized what he meant Naruto scowled, her cheeks reddening. "Shut up." She muttered.

He chuckled causing her blush to deepen.

Naruto looked down at the table. "I'm sorry about what happened with Ino, we got a little carried away, I guess."

Shikamaru shrugged. "I'm not surprised, Ino always had a penchant for drama and the fact that you kept disagreeing with her only helped driving her more nuts."

Naruto looked up at him crossing her arms on the table. "It wasn't my intention to make her mad." She shrugged looking away again. "I just felt that someone needed to defend you somehow."

Shikamaru smiled. "I appreciate it. Next time try not to push her too hard, okay? It will only make her suspicious." As soon as Naruto looked up at him, he knew that he'd said the wrong thing.

"Suspicious for what? Nothing is going on between us." She couldn't help sounding a little bitter at the end of her sentence.

There was a short awkward pause before Naruto blew a frustrated breath.

"Sorry," she mumbled not looking at him as she took the forgotten cup of coffee. It was cold but she forced herself to drink it just so she could have something to do. She would've died if she could just to escape this awkward situation.

Shikamaru cleared his throat after a moment. "No it's fine... Uhm, you right I guess. Nothing is going on between us."

Naruto looked down at her now empty cup, hoping that he couldn't see how much what he'd said stung. She hadn't expected it to affect her like that, she'd known that he wasn't interested in her but to hear him admit it was a blow to her pride. That alone told her she was getting too invested which was not good. She nodded slowly standing up.

Without looking at him, she dropped coins on the table to cover her part. "I have to go." She said not waiting for him to respond she made her way out of the shop.

Not even five step away from the shop Shikamaru caught up to her grabbing her by the arm when she wouldn't stop.

"What?" Naruto said exasperation lacing her tone. When he didn't say anything she rolled her eyes and turned to go.

He only tightened his hands around her arm.

Naruto was getting impatient. "What do you want, Shikamaru?"

"I want you."

Naruto blinked in surprised which turned to confusion, not sure she heard correctly. "What?"

Shikamaru took a deep breath and released her, confident that she wouldn't try to escape anymore. They needed to finish this conversation today or else it would never be finished. They would keep putting it off, but Shikamaru was done doing that, he wanted to end the issue right today. "I want you, that's the truth. I don't know why but since that night when I'm close to you all I want is to touch you until I've had enough. But I can't, because if I do things might change between us and I can't predict the outcome which is driving me crazy because I've always been able to predict any outcome. It's the way I've always worked."

Try as she might Naruto couldn't help the feeling of happiness that bloomed in her at him admitting that he wanted her that badly. She was relieved that she wasn't the only one that felt that way. Naruto nodded and as if in silent agreement they both started walking again.

"You know I've been thinking a lot about your proposition." He continued after a moment of silence, he was grateful that Naruto was letting him talk without interruptions. "Only sex, no strings attached, but I realized that would've worked if we were complete strangers." He said with a crooked smile.

Naruto frowned but didn't say anything. She was trying to think where he was going with all this.

"But we're friends and that changes lots of things, I don't want you to get hurt at the end if I don't meet your expectation."

Naruto stopped, not sure if he's trying to say what she thought. Carefully as if afraid to get the wrong assumption she said. "I wouldn't have any expectation, if this... Thing were to happen it would be purely physical, no emotional attachment whatsoever."

Shikamaru too stopped to look at her thoughtfully.

Hope bloomed inside Naruto, if he was thinking that meant he was actually considering her idea, despite his hesitancy he actually wanted to try it. But then doubt started creeping in replacing the feeling of hope. Did she really want it herself? Despite knowing that there might be consequences was she willing to risk it? Naruto knew the answer without thinking about it.

She tried to resist the feeling she really did, but a big part of her wanted this in a way she couldn't explain which made her believe that it was more than mere curiosity. It was something deeper and a part of her was afraid of what it could mean, but the other part was intrigued and determined to find out. Just the thought of his lips on hers was enough to send her heart racing for the hokage mountain.

She licked her lips absently resuming their walk, her brows pinched in thoughts. Calm down, she mentally chided herself. Shikamaru hadn't agreed... Yet. She looked at him in the corner of her eye, he was still thinking which was good, it meant he wouldn't need much persuasion. Naruto felt like a hormone possessed teenager, and maybe she was. She couldn't care less. Right now all she cared about was satisfying the sudden hunger she had for the shadow master, and she was sure she just needed one night to keep the monster at bay.

Naruto stopped when an idea occurred to her, sure that Shikamaru would agree with it at least. A voice inside her told her not to do it, but she ignored it. She was done listening to her mind, it just kept confusing her. From now on she would act first and deal with the consequences later, Naruto style.

Shikamaru who'd stopped with her looked at her questioningly. They've stopped in front of a lake, Shikamaru could see families having a picnic a little distance away and a father teaching his son fishing on their right, no one paid them any attention.

Naruto looked up at him with excitement shining in her eyes. "I just had the craziest idea, but hear me out first before you make any judgment, okay?"

Shikamaru raised an eyebrow but shrugged. "It would not be the first idea of yours I've heard that's crazy, but can we sit down before you tell me your 'crazy idea.' " He didn't wait for her to respond before he dropped himself on the grass with a groan. "Man, that walking really exhausted me."

Naruto rolled her eyes but followed him by sitting down next to him. "We barely walked, you're just lazy."

They were facing the lake, and Naruto could see the water reflecting the blue sky, small crystals were sparkling on the surface. Naruto found the image beautiful, but she shook her head in favor of focusing on the real world. She didn't have time to be admiring water crystals. She turned to find Shikamaru looking at her with a look she couldn't quite identify.

"What?" She asked thinking that she probably had something on her face.

Shikamaru shook his head slightly pulling himself from his daze. "Your eyes," he said softly brushing her bangs away from her face. "They're reflecting the water."

Naruto resisted the urge to shiver at his slight touch, her brow furrowed instead in confusion. "So?"

Shikamaru shrugged pulling his hands back, an odd look crossing his face. He cleared his throat looking away. "Nothing. It's just... Nice I guess." Beautiful was the word he wanted to use but he didn't want to give her the wrong idea, things were already awkward between them as it was.

"Thanks, I guess?" Naruto said still not following his odd behaviour, but she brushed it aside for the moment she had bigger things to worry about like his reaction to her idea, but she couldn't help feeling excited nonetheless about it. She took a deep breath. "We both can't deny that we're attracted to each other, right?"

Shikamaru nodded, his mind working trying to guess where she was going with this.

"Right," Naruto continued, tugging her hair nervously. "So I was thinking we give each other one more night, you and I have... Uhm... Sex one last time. A whole night if we have to... To satisfy our craving for each other." She mentally cringed at how stupid 'our' sounded. It sounded a lot better in her head. Her face was probably doing a great impersonation of a ripe tomato, right now.

Despite having said the most ridiculous thing he'd ever heard, Shikamaru couldn't help smiling at how cute she looked. "You're right, it is crazy."

Naruto huffed. "Well, do you have a better idea?"

"Come on, a whole night of sex? That's insane."

"I said only if we have to." Naruto pointed out to which Shikamaru rolled his eyes. Naruto scowled her hands going on her hips. "You know what's crazy? Having to hold ourselves back when we obviously want each other, and you know what else is crazy? Having _you_ in my head every single damn time I'm trying to live my life!" She crossed her arms in front of her chest in obvious frustration. "If we don't do this I think _I'm_ going to go crazy."

"Okay, I hear you." Shikamaru said with his hands up in a placating gesture, he sighed. "I get what you're saying because I feel the same way, but I just don't think it's a good idea. Things might change between us and I don't want to lose your friendship."

Naruto's gaze softened. "Things doesn't have to change if we don't let it. Aren't you at least curious to know why we're attracted to each other? Just think of it as an experiment or something, we'll just need one night. I promise.

Shikamaru looked at her skeptically. "What if one night is not enough?" _What if it turns into more?_ Was what he wanted to ask but he didn't dare, afraid that Naruto wouldn't be able to reassure him enough.

"Hmm." Naruto hummed thoughtfully. "I don't think we need to cross that bridge yet, but I'm sure having sex with you one last time will be enough to make me swear off sex for the rest of my life." She teased just to lighten the mood.

Shikamaru smiled cockily. "Are you sure? Because my skills in bed are quite subpar, enough to get you addicted to it like a drug."

Naruto rolled her eyes playfully. "I'm sure."

Shikamaru chuckled. "You know," he said thoughtfully reassessing her with his gaze. "You're different."

"What do you mean?" Naruto said hoping that her unease wasn't showing.

Shikamaru shrugged, his perceptive eyes studying her. "You're acting different."

Naruto laughed nervously scratching the back of her. "Don't be stupid, dumbass."

"Yeah, I guess I'm just being... Stupid." He said, but his expression was sceptical. Naruto was hiding something, this wasn't the first time he'd noticed that she seemed more than she appeared, she actually seemed to have a brain behind that head of hers. The first time he'd thought it was because he was drunk, and was seeing things that wasn't there, but now he's not drunk and he can tell that Naruto acted dumber than she actually was. The question was why hide it?

He shoved the thought aside to be analyzed later, right now he needed to make a decision that would either be the best thing he has ever done or the worst mistake of his life.

"One night, huh." He said softly looking over the lake thoughtfully.

Naruto nodded. "One night, that's all we need."

"Okay," Shikamaru took a deep breath nodding. "Okay." He repeated more firmly, his decision made.

Naruto looked at him in surprise. She hadn't really thought he was going to agree so quickly.

He gave her one of his lazy smiles that she was starting to like so much, as if he could read her mind. "You're very persuasive, and I have to admit that I'm quite curious myself about how this whole thing will turn out."

Naruto released a breath she hadn't known she was holding. She shook her head smiling. "You didn't need much persuading. You secretly wanted it as much as me."

Shikamaru didn't smile back,"You're right." His expression was in that odd look that she still couldn't quite read as he looked at her, then it was gone again.

Naruto was left with an odd feeling of emptiness that she couldn't place. It was like being ripped off a blanket on a very cold night. She was left cold and... Lonely.

"After tonight, we go back to how things were." Shikamaru said, drawing Naruto out of her odd thoughts.

Naruto blinked as what he'd said occurred to her. "To...tonight?" She sputtered.

Shikamaru raised an eyebrow. "The sooner the better, don't you think?"

Naruto licked her lips nervously. "Don't you think it's too... Soon?"

Shikamaru shook his head. "I think it's the perfect time. We do this once and for all. The sooner we get over it, then we can get back to our normal lives." As normal as their lives were.

Naruto frowned at him. "I'm glad you think this is something to get over with." She grumbled under her breath, ignoring the slight pang his words brought to her. What had she expected? Of course he was going to be cold about this whole thing.

Shikamaru winced. "That's not what I meant, look," He rubbed his head in frustration. "This is just an arrangement, Naruto. We can't do this unless I know for sure there will not be any emotional attachment. Like you said yourself, we'll just be 'experimenting.' You've got your reason for doing it and I've got mine, but it can't happen if you're not really sure you can abide to the rules." Sensing that he'd been a little too harsh his gaze softened a little. "It's not too late to back off, I will understand if you do."

He was giving her a way out. Any sane person would've taken it and gone without ever looking back, but not Naruto. She took that like she took everything else in her life. A challenge. No way was she going to chicken out, of course she could be detached with this, she will show him. She lifted her chin and tried to look as dignified as she could, but probably failed, she said. "Of course I can abide by the rules, I'm the one that came up with it, remember?"

Shikamaru nodded but he still felt a little doubtful, a lot of things could go wrong. He was ready to take that risk, because he wasn't sure how much longer he could hold himself back when she kept making all those facial expressions that should've looked ridiculous on anyone, but managed look pretty hot on her. Her innocence just added an air of beauty to her. Shikamaru blinked himself out of his daze. Speaking of emotional attachment, if he kept having thoughts like that _he_ was the one that was going to be in trouble.

"So tonight, huh." Naruto said pulling him out his daze. Shikamaru looked over at her, she was looking over the lake and once again his gaze was drawn towards her eyes. Like each time he looked at them, he was always surprised to notice how impossibly blue they were. He forced his gaze away from her eyes to the rest of her face, to the whiskers marring her face, one of the effects of being born to a jinchuriki. His eyes traced the curves of her pink lips, if it wasn't for all those people around he would've kissed them already.

Shikamaru quickly looked away, not wanting to be caught staring again when Naruto looked at him questioningly. He blinked belatedly remembering she'd spoken to him.

"Hm? Oh yeah, tonight."

Naruto cleared her throat, a little embarrassed at what she was about to ask. "Okay, this will sound a little weird but your place or mine?"

She was right, it was weird. Shikamaru had never imagined that such a question would one day be a priority to him and yet here he was trying to decide whose home would best to have frivolous sex.

Ah well, stranger things have happened to him.

"Is your apartment soundproof?" He asked her, trying to ignore the voice in his head that was telling him how crazy he was for agreeing to this.

Naruto shook her head thoughtfully, trying to imagine her little beat up apartment with her nosy neighbor. "Nope. Plus, my bed is not really comfortable."

Shikamaru nodded, he'd already guessed something like that. "Then my place, it is."

"What time?"

"I don't know," Shikamaru said thoughtfully. "But it should be very late."

"Hm." Naruto hummed picking up small stones from the floor. She lifted the stone and threw it as far as she could. They both watched the stone skip on the water until it sank.

"So how are you going to come without anyone seeing you?" He asked watching Naruto throw more stones into the lake.

"Huh? Oh," Naruto shrugged. "Shunshin, I guess."

"Be careful not to get caught. If anyone sees you entering my apartment rumours will start flying." He said looking around as if expecting someone to be spying on them.

"Except, it won't be rumors." Naruto joked with a wink, snickering.

Shikamaru scowled slightly. "Naruto, I'm serious."

"Stop being paranoid, Shikamaru." Naruto rolled her eyes. "I will be careful, and even if anyone sees me, no one will guess that we're doing anything suspicious. They will just assume I'm there for a mission."

Shikamaru raised an eyebrow. "Late at night?"

"A very _special_ mission." Naruto added with another snicker. When Shikamaru's expression didn't change she threw her hands up in the air in surrender. "Fine, I will be careful. I promise."

She grumbled about him not having a sense of humor, but he ignored her.

Shikamaru wasn't being paranoid, he was just being overly cautious. Sex is supposed to be a spontaneous thing, and the fact that they were planning it beforehand just showed how ridiculous the idea was, but he knew that he had to do it. Somehow, this felt right to him. Nobody told him he couldn't have fun, right? And after tonight they could both go back to normal, as if nothing ever happened.

So why was he feeling like he was about to get more than he bargained for?

Naruto frowned down at the little stone in her palm in thought. She hesitated a little before asking the thing that's been bothering her, probably the only reason that's been stopping them from acting on their attraction. Guilt for Temari. "So, what about Temari?"

Shikamaru tensed a little at the name, he already knew what she meant. He'd been pondering the same question himself, but one thing was for sure. "She has nothing to do with this, so she doesn't need to know anything."

Naruto gave him a sideway glance, rolling the stone in her open palm. With the help of a little chakra she threw the stone and watched as it skipped. "You're planning on getting back with her, right?"

Shikamaru lied on his back to look up at the cloudless sky, strange he hadn't thought of smoking since he'd left the coffee shop. He took out a cigarette and lit it before answering Naruto's question.

"That's the idea." He exhaling smoke from his mouth.

Naruto frown in disapproval both of his smoking and the fact he seemed nonchalant about the topic. "So you're going to keep this from her? "

Shikamaru sent her a mildly irritated look. "Well, we're not together right now. I think it's okay if I go a little 'astray,' don't you think? After all I'm an asshole." He said a little bitterly still not over the fact that she'd broken up with him without giving him a chance to explain why he wouldn't marry her. Keeping the thing with Naruto a secret is his revenge. He felt vindictive. He then sighed, suddenly feeling stupid for being bitter. He just didn't know what else to do, and he didn't want to have to tell her that while they were taking a break, he'd slept with someone else. He could just imagine how that will go.

Naruto's frown deepened but this time in concern, it seemed Shikamaru wasn't quite as over the break up as he acted he was. She sincerely hoped they resolved their issue, meanwhile she had to agree with Shikamaru. Frankly, she was kind of relieved too. She didn't want to have to confront Temari and the drama that might ensue if she ever found out.

Agh, that sounded like something out of a romance affair novel with Naruto being the mistress.

She took a deep breath, trying to bury the guilt that was threatening to surface. It would just be this one time, she told herself, then they won't ever have to speak about it. With that she turned to Shikamaru, only to feel her breath catch in her throat when she found him staring at her, again. But this time it was different, the look was different.

Naruto swallowed hard, fighting off the warmth that was spreading fast from the tip of her toes up to her face. The look in which he was looking at her was the same look he'd given her that night before he'd first asked to kiss her, the night it had all begun. The same look he'd given her the morning after and that night in her apartment; she knew what the look meant even before he breached the distance between them.

Naruto didn't hesitate to reciprocate the kiss. He tasted of cigarette and something faintly sweet, but she found the taste faintly addictive. His tongue brushed lightly on her lips making her shiver slightly, pulling him closer to her.

Next thing she knew, they were both lying on the grass his body half on top her. She could feel his heart pounding and it gave her a sense of satisfaction to know that she had the same effect on him that he had on her.

Someone moaned, she didn't know if it came from him or her, but judging from his smile on her lips it must have been her.

After a moment, he pulled away causing her to let out a small sound of protest.

He chuckled, a deep sexy rumble that made her want to pull him back to her. They stared at each other, Naruto albeit dazedly.

"Wow." She whispered softly in awe.

Shikamaru chuckled again. "You should save that word for tonight." He tried to pull away completely, but Naruto's hand grabbed his ninja vest stopping him from moving further from her.

His eyes crinkled in amusement. "Come on, you don't want anyone to see us do you?" He gave her a peck on the lips, Naruto's knees went weak. She was grateful that she was already lying down or she would have fallen down and probably embarrassed herself in the process.

"Don't worry, we've got the whole night to have fun." He winked pulling away, this time Naruto didn't stop him only because she'd realized that they've been kissing who knew for how long with people present.

She quickly sat up almost bumping Shikamaru on the head in the process. Naruto glanced around to see that they were the only ones there, she hadn't noticed anyone leaving.

"They left when they saw us kissing, they were disgusted by our behaviour. Frankly, I think it was the noise you were making that scared them away." Shikamaru said amusedly.

Naruto's head snapped back to the boy next to her in horror, already imagining what people were saying about her.

When she saw Shikamaru's eyes was bright with amusement. She narrowed her eyes at him and in response he bit his lips, possibly to keep from laughing. The bastard was messing with her.

"You." Naruto growled pushing him, she made to stand up, but Shikamaru caught her arm.

Shikamaru chuckled, apparently giving up fighting off his laugh. "Now who's the paranoid one?"

Naruto clucked her tongue in annoyance. "That wasn't funny. Someone could've spotted us."

"It was funny, especially your face." He said with a smirk, his eyes twinkling in mirth.

Naruto was about to snap at him, probably something very rude but stopped when he caught her face in his hand.

"Relax, I made sure everybody was gone before I kissed you." he said softly kissing her on the lips, again. "Plus, I covered us in genjutsu incase anyone else came here."

Naruto shook off the momentary distraction that was Shikamaru's lips. She blinked as his words registered in her dazed brain. Since genjutsu had never been her strong suit, she had to close her eyes and focus hard; sure enough a moment later she could feel a faint trace of chakra surrounding them. Shikamaru's chakra.

Naruto was impressed, she always knew Shikamaru was smart but that did not stop her from being surprise every time he did something amazing. She hadn't even thought about genjutsu let alone seen him use it.

"When..."

"When did I do it?" Shikamaru shrugged. "The moment we were alone, before the kiss. It's only meant to last five minutes."

Naruto nodded slowly, still baffled that she hadn't noticed anyone leaving. She'd been too engrossed in talking to Shikamaru that she'd forgotten everything around her. It's weird, she couldn't decide whether it was a good thing or not. But she had to admit that she didn't really care. Anyone would've forgotten their surroundings if they'd been kissed like that, and the thought of it being a taste of what's to come that night is enough to make her giddy.

She was quick to clamp down on the feeling though. She felt a little frustrated at him for emphasizing on how they shouldn't reveal whatever they're doing but then he was the one dropping surprised kisses on her in a public place.

"That was risky." Naruto said with a frown. "Anyone that was a ninja could've found us, and the fact that we were hiding under a genjutsu would have been kinda suspicious."

Shikamaru blinked, taken aback by her words. "I guess so, but no one caught us."

"Yeah, but they could have!" Naruto said said, frustrated.

"Hey, all I wanted was to seal our deal with a kiss. Plus, you liked it didn't you?" He asked with a raised brow.

"That's beside the point," Naruto said fighting off a blush. "I just think we should be more careful. We can't let anyone catch us before things could even begin."

"Why are you being rational all of a sudden?" Shikamaru narrowed his eyes, as if trying to figure her out. "You're not having second thoughts, are you?"

Naruto shook her head vehemently. "No, no."

"Are you sure? Because if you are-"

"I'm not." Naruto interrupted firmly. "I just don't understand why you kissed me, I mean you're the one that said we should keep this private but then you kiss me here," she waved her hands around them. "You're just contradicting yourself and me in the process."

Shikamaru hesitated a little. He couldn't tell her that he'd been wanting to kiss her from the moment he'd laid eyes on her in the shop. It felt like he was violating a part of their little deal of no emotional involvement. "I-I told you," he shrugged a poor attempt to look unconcerned. "I just thought that a kiss would seal our deal better."

"Oh." Naruto couldn't help the little disappointment curling in her stomach at his answer. "Is that all?"

Shikamaru shrugged again not looking at her. "Why else would I do it?"

' _How about because you wanted to?_ _'_ She wanted to snap at him instead she swallowed shaking her head. "Nothing, never mind."

They fell into an awkward silence for awhile before Naruto stood up abruptly."I have to go. I'm going to see if the old hag wants me for something."

Shikamaru remained on the floor, he watched as Naruto dusted her pants. He clenched his hands to keep them from pulling her back to him. He didn't understand where these urge of touching her was coming from. Troublesome.

"See you... tonight?" He hesitated a little, afraid she might have changed her mind.

Despite clearly being upset, Naruto managed to give him a smile and a nod. "Tonight." With that she was gone.

Shikamaru watched her go, he felt a little unsettled that she was upset and somehow it was his fault.

' _Hello, captain obvious why else would she be upset?_ _'_ Naruto wasn't one to get upset easily, she had her moments but she always bounced back minutes later. For some reason, he noticed, since that night their conversation always ended up on the wrong note and he had to wonder if that wasn't just the beginning of the changes he'd been fearing.

Too late for regrets now. He'd already decided that as long as he was attracted to Naruto things would never be the same again. He might as well enjoy and have fun while it lasted. Naruto would make a hot lover, he decided.

Shikamaru froze when he realized what he'd just been thinking. This is just a one time thing, he told himself. After tonight things would go back to normal. It had too.

Too bad he just felt like he was lying to himself again, troublesome.

* * *

It didn't take long for Naruto to start having second thoughts about the whole thing, but each time she kept remembering his lips on hers further cementing her decision.

"This is crazy." She muttered under her breath while pacing in her apartment later that night.

The rest of her day had been hard and tedious for her. At least mentally. She'd tried to talk herself out of it, convincing herself that it wasn't too late to back out. Yet, it seemed her heart had been set already.

Naruto even tried to contact Kurama so he could talk some sense into her and stop her from probably making the biggest mistake of her life or maybe the best mistake of her life? Well, it all depended on how it would end. But the bastard wasn't responding to her calls.

Naruto took a deep breath, trying to calm her nerves, but seconds later she resumed her pacing this time while smacking her forehead. "Stupid, stupid. Oh, why did I have to be so stupid as to agree this!"

"No," she said as she stopped pacing abruptly. "I didn't agree to it, I freakin suggested it!"

"Oh no," she murmured gripping her hair. "I'm an idiot."

Suffice to say Naruto spent two hours-with a ramen break in between- panicking, before she decided if she was going to whine she might as well do something productive while at it. Like get ready.

After showering and shaving every inch of her already smooth body, she went in the room to face another dilemma.

What to wear.

What does someone wear for a one-night stand? Naruto wondered, because she didn't think her usual sweat shirt and shorts was appealing for this kind of occasion. Not that she knew what was appealing for this occasion.

Naruto let out a little disgruntled noise when she realized she didn't know what kind of panties were appropriate for sex. Seeing all that made her almost wish she'd agreed to go lingerie shopping with Sakura and Ino.

Almost. Because nothing was worth the torture of spending a whole day shopping with those two devils.

After a few minutes of aimless searching she gave up, throwing her hands in the air in frustration. This was ridiculous, why was she wasting time looking for clothes that will end up on the floor anyway?

With that she ended up wearing a pale-yellow dress -the only simple clothing Sakura had chosen for her- on top of a white pair of underwear. Surely, Shikamaru would be grateful that she wore something that's easy to take off.

She tried to do something with her hair, but ended up putting it in a messy bun. Hair styling was never her strong suit.

By the time she was done it was way past eleven. She grimaced, well, Shikamaru didn't specified the time so she wasn't exactly late.

Naruto took a deep breath to calm her nerves once again, what if this was all a mistake?

Well, she won't know unless she went there. Plus, Naruto reasoned, she had nothing to lose. And after tonight she will get over her attraction to Shikamaru and things would go back to normal. Hopefully.

Naruto took another deep breath, she closed her eyes trying to picture Shikamaru's apartment, at least what she remembered of it. She lifted her hands in a shunshin sign, a second later she disappeared in puff of smoke.

...

Shikamaru looked up from where he was sitting drinking tea- his fifth cup to be exact- when a light knock sounded at his door.

He stood up glancing around to make sure everything was in place. He opened the door to a nervous Naruto tugging on her dress. Shikamaru stared, he couldn't help himself. She looked so beautiful in that short dress that he had to grip the door hard to stop himself from reaching out and pulling her to him. Partly because he didn't want to freak her out and the other part because he himself didn't understand where those urges were coming from.

"Hey." His voice came out breathy.

Naruto smiled tucking her bangs behind her ear. "Hey."

"Hey," he repeated before shaking his head from his temporary daze, he opened the door wider to let her in. "Come in."

Naruto seemed relieved at his words as if she'd been afraid that he might send her away. "Thanks." She gave him a shy smile before going in.

Shikamaru swallowed hard as he closed the door behind and followed her in the living room. "So..." He trailed off as he came up empty to what to say.

Naruto didn't notice his lack of words, she was busy looking around her. "Nice home you have here." She commented turning to look at him.

Shikamaru shrugged. "Thanks."

They fell into silence, both staring at each other. Shikamaru's didn't stray from her face. Despite never putting any makeup Shikamaru had to admit Naruto may as well be the most beautiful girl he'd ever laid eyes on, and that's not just his hormones talking. The dress she wore was loose but it did nothing to hide the curves of her body. He couldn't help but be disappointed that her hair was tied, though.

He watched as Naruto's eyes studied him in return and from the way her eyes roamed hungrily on his body, it seemed she liked what she saw. He was wearing a long sleeved sweatshirt and jeans.

Her eyes snapped back to him questioningly as if to ask, what now?

He resisted the urge to chuckle as he closed the distance between them, deciding instead to take the lead. It was only natural since he was the more experienced between the two.

Shikamaru left a foot-space between them just in case she wanted to change her mind, he didn't want her to but he had to leave the option open.

He reached out to cup her face lightly, hesitantly. He looked down at her questioningly, silently asking for permission.

Naruto leaned on her tiptoes in response, lightly grazing his lips. Their lips barely touched but he could feel his control slipping. She leaned back with a small smirk on her lips as if she knew what effect she had on him, her eyes daring him to kiss her.

Shikamaru was all too happy to oblige. He leaned down to kiss her warm soft lips, he kissed her lightly at first then he felt her tongue slide against his with a deliberate tempo. She tasted like ramen, she must've eaten it before she got here.

Shikamaru moulded his mouth with her, deepening the kiss. With a sigh, she moved against his touch, increasing the momentum of the kiss. He glided his fingers down her back just above the zip of her dress, she shivered slightly at his touch.

Shikamaru forced himself to pull away after awhile. Naruto made to follow him but he held her back with his hands on her shoulder.

Naruto blinked confusedly at him. "What's wrong?" She asked softly her voice nothing more than a whisper.

Slightly out of breath, he took a shuddering breath stepping away from her completely. Shikamaru turned away, trying to regain some control of himself. This was too much and too fast, he shouldn't be wanting her so damn much. What if... What if this was just a mistake?

"Shikamaru?"

He flinched at her concerned tone, even her voice was enough to make him dizzy with desire. All these emotions were new, he doesn't remember feeling this much desire for Temari.

"Come on, Shikamaru tell me what's wrong with you?" Naruto said behind him, her voice with a hint of frustration.

Shikamaru took another shuddering breath feeling his pulse slow down a little. "I don't think this is a good idea." He said without turning to look at her, but he felt her presence all the same.

"What?"

Shikamaru turned to see her expression was one of disbelief and a little confusion. "I don't think -"

"I heard you the first time," Naruto said impatiently. "What I want to know is what made you change your mind? Did I do something wrong?"

Shikamaru quickly shook his head. "You didn't do anything wrong."

"Then what is it?"

"It's... I don't know." He scratched his head in frustration, undoing his ponytail in the process. "I just feel that it's too much for me... It's driving me crazy!"

Naruto rolled her eyes slightly before sending him a glare. "So you think this is easy for me?" She didn't wait for him to answer, not that he would have. "This is too much for me too, all these new feelings and desires are driving me crazy too!"

Shikamaru winced at the loud tone of her voice. "Okay, calm down. I didn't mean to upset you, I just don't think this is right."

Naruto gave him an incredulous stare.

He knew he sounded a little like a coward but he couldn't help it, the feelings of desire that Naruto seemed to awaken within him left him a little wary of the situation he was getting himself into, and his rational side couldn't help but make itself aware.

He looked up just in time to see Naruto approaching him with a stubborn glint in her eyes.

"Naruto, wha-"

Shikamaru was cut off by Naruto's lips on his. Before he could protest or think of pushing her away her tongue slid in his mouth tasting, exploring the cavern of his mouth. He gasped as pleasure shot up through him.

"Don't fight it." She said softly into his mouth.

Naruto's hand snaked up behind his neck, pulling him closer. Shikamaru's arm reflexively went behind her back causing her to arch into him. He groaned.

Naruto breathed a laugh, nipping lightly at the base of his neck. "See," she whispered on his neck, her hot breath sending shivers down his back. "You want this." Her hands slid down from his neck to his stomach, her fingers lightly skimming the hard muscles there. She brought her mouth close to his ear her hot breath sending sparks of fire down south inadvertently causing his stomach to clench. "You want me." Then her hands dropped to his lower side, right on his bulging groin.

Shikamaru gasped loudly ,his eyes a fraction wide. He looked down at the girl who blinked innocently at him to the hand that was still holding his manhood. He licked his dry lips a little nervously, "Uhm..." He stuttered.

Naruto leaned forward to kiss him on his jaw. She then looked up at him with her big blue eyes, the expression would have been one of innocence if it weren't for her hand that was currently holding what could be her greatest weapon. From the glint in her eyes it seemed she was aware of it. "You want me, don't you?" She applied a little pressure just for effect.

Shikamaru groaned softly. "Fuck, yes!" He said almost buckling under her hand, his voice sounded choked.

The hand pressure disappeared to be replaced behind his neck. Shikamaru opened his eyes, he hadn't known he'd closed them. grateful for the break. His relief was short-lived because Naruto's hips swayed, making sure to brush his already tight appendage. Shikamaru was sure his eyes were rolling back in his head, but he didn't care when Naruto was busy torturing him.

The worse part was that he liked it, oh yes, he was enjoying every minute of it. He couldn't help the thrills of pleasure that went through him every time her body went anywhere near his groin, the sparks only growing fiercer and stronger in him. Her taste was like a drug, addictive. Her smell was intoxicating his senses. Her warm chakra fluctuating and enveloping.

Shikamaru held himself from taking her then and there; the fact that she drove all his senses on high alert kept him back, and his brain automatically tried to analyze the problem.

"Shikamaru look at me."

Half lidded brown eyes met blue eyes. They were so close, their noses were almost touching.

Blond brow furrowed slightly in confusion. "Why are you hesitating?"

"I..." Shikamaru swallowed hard. Damn her for looking so innocent and sexy at the same time. She had no idea what she was doing to him by just standing there with her flushed lips and an expectant expression, he could feel the last remaining of his will slipping.

"Are you afraid that you might end up liking it so much?" A hint of a smirk let him know that she was joking.

He snorted despite himself, he shook his head at her. His hand going behind her head pulling her to close the distance between them. "Not even close." He kissed her lightly on her already bruised lips. "I'm afraid this might end up meaning more than I would like it too." He said against her lips.

Naruto blinked up at him. "Is that all?" Before he could respond she stepped back away from him, out of his reach. "Don't worry, I promised you sex." She said reaching at the back of her dress. "And that's what you're going to get, no strings attached."

If only she knew that Shikamaru was more worried about himself, but before he could have a chance to tell her he got distracted by Naruto who's dress slid to the floor. She kicked it aside along with her shoes.

Shikamaru's mouth suddenly went dry by the sight of Naruto in her white cotton panty and bra. Her curves, he still cannot believe that she'd managed to hide them all these years. He felt a slight pleasure at knowing that he's the first male to see her naked. Well, almost naked.

Naruto's eyes glinted in mischief as she kicked her dress to the side. "So where's your bedroom, lover boy?" She said with her signature foxy grin pulling on her lips. At that moment she looked like a sly vixen.

She didn't wait for him to respond, she turned around giving him a perfect view of her tanned back before sauntering off in search of his bedroom.

Shikamaru watched in awe as she disappeared into the hallway. He was sure that his mouth was gaping open but he didn't care. He just knew that she was going to be trouble.

Shikamaru felt a grin pull at his lips. Too bad he was willingly going to be dragged down with her.

He chuckled softly. "Troublesome, woman."

With that, he followed after her making sure to take her dress from the floor-no way was he making that mistake twice.


	9. Chapter 9

**I forgot to warn you guys about this last chapter because I was too excited to update -_-||. Anyway, here's your warning.**

 **Beware of sexual content in this chapter. In fact, if you're squeamish or do not like it I don't think this chapter is for you.**

 **Okay! With that put of the way, I would like to thank all those that left me a wonderful review. You people are my inspiration everyday. I'm normally a very lazy person but because of your positive responses I always push myself to find the time and write a chapter.**

 **Before I start being emotional and write a lot of cliche words I present you chapter 9.**

* * *

"Wrong door." She heard his smooth deep voice whisper amusedly in her ear sending slight shivers down her back.

Shikamaru's arm slid around her hips pulling her against his hard body. Naruto released the handle of the door she'd been about to open closing her eyes in pleasure, she leaned back against him as he planted small soft kisses on her neck.

Naruto hummed softly in pleasure, glad that he was finally succumbing to his desire. He turned her around so that she could face him and he immediately brought his mouth down on hers.

She couldn't tell where he was touching her, because as soon as he was touching her on one spot, his hands moved to another. He was touching her everywhere and nowhere at once.

She liked that he didn't fight for dominance when he kissed her. Despite the fact that he was more experienced, he let her set the pace between them before following, yet he managed to still be in control.

Naruto also liked the sound of their breath mingling into each other. She liked the soft groans he let out each time their bodies join together. He wasn't afraid to let her know that he wanted her, she liked that about him.

Naruto gasped when she felt herself being lifted off the ground, her legs automatically went around his torso.

"Naruto," he muttered against her lips. "How about I take you to the right room?"

Naruto felt a smile pull at her lips. "I thought you'd never ask."

Inwardly, she felt a little tremor of fear pass through her as she realized what was going to happen soon, but it quickly passed when she felt his hands squeeze her ass, sending spark of pleasure so fierce it overrode the fear completely.

They stumbled awkwardly into his bedroom with him still carrying her, it was a wonder he didn't drop her. Maybe it was because she was gripping his shoulders hard as he kissed down her breastbone.

Shikamaru dropped her unceremoniously on the bed, before she could complain at the rough handling, his mouth was upon her again. She gripped his hair towards her, pulling him closer. She wanted to sate the hunger she felt for him, to taste him until she'd had enough.

His hand went to her breast squeezing slightly. Naruto gasped into his mouth but she didn't release him, she could feel the desire growing making it unbearable to breathe. Yet, she never stopped kissing him.

Shikamaru's hands were very eager as they explored her body. Pale hands, a contrast to her tan body.

The overwhelming feeling of lust kept growing, and Naruto felt in dire need of something to stave off the feeling. In one smooth motion she reverse their position so that she was straddling him, she bent down to bite Shikamaru on the neck.

"Naruto..." Shikamaru breathed gripping her hips hard as she assaulted his neck.

Naruto tugged on Shikamaru's shirt, frustrated that he still had it on. He eagerly helped her remove it throwing it over her head.

Sharp nails clawed at his chest and back igniting a small hiss from him.

Naruto felt his hands travel around her back by the clips of her bra, with a smooth motion, Shikamaru removed the item. Her eyes widen in surprise, not having expected the action. She looked down at his awed filled expression that she could make out in the darkness, a slight blush spread on her face in embarrassment, but before she could think of covering her chest, he brought his face up -since she was still on top of him. He brought his mouth to one of her tight breast.

Naruto gasped, tendrils of pleasure shooting through her, making her toes curl and her grip around his back tightened, hugging him closer to her.

Naruto moaned Shikamaru's name softly as he sucked, nibbling lightly on her tits.

"You're so beautiful..." He whispered looking into her eyes before taking her mouth into his, biting softly on her lower lip.

Naruto shuddered in his arms, she could feel a familiar heat in her stomach, fighting for release. She fought hard to keep a tight leash on it, but it was useless. She could feel it leaking pass her control. At the same time she could feel her nails growing slightly longer, her teeth elongated.

Suddenly, she could feel Shikamaru's lustful desire, could sharply smell his slight earthily smell with a hint of mint. She could feel his lukewarm chakra pressing onto her own mixing together as if one.

"You're hot..." Shikamaru mumbled against her mouth. She could feel his forehead crease up against her own.

Naruto didn't pay it any mind though, assuming he was complimenting her. She could feel the familiar heat growing, overpowering her senses.

"Naruto..." Shikamaru groaned a hint of worry in his voice.

"What?" Naruto breathed, bringing her teeth to hungrily nip on his jaw. When she brought her lips back to his, Shikamaru let out a soft hiss pulling away. He looked at her and his eyes widened a fraction.

"Holy shit, Naruto you're hot!"

Naruto cocked her head in slight bewilderment, she looked down at him still straddling him. "Isn't that a good thing?"

Shikamaru shook his head, pulling further away as he got a good look at her. "Normally it would have been, but right now you're really hot... as in literally hot."

Naruto still wasn't getting it, he pointedly looked at her. She glanced at her hand and saw the Kyuubi's chakra enveloping her. She cursed loudly jumping off him and since they were positioned at the edge of the bed, her action caused her to fall on the floor with a thump.

"Shit." She groaned from the floor, rubbing her injured butt. Her body still covered in the kyuubi's chakra.

Shikamaru chuckled slightly from the bed, switching on the light on his nightstand. Naruto seemed to remember what had caused her to fall. She quickly retracted Kurama's chakra into her, a second later the cloak surrounding her dissipated.

She sighed silently cursing herself. She tried but failed to swallow the feeling of guilt that had formed in her stomach.

"Naruto, are you alright?" Shikamaru asked from the bed somehow sensing her shift in mood.

Naruto looked down suddenly feeling ashamed of herself, she couldn't bring herself to look at Shikamaru.

"Did... Did I hurt you?" She asked in a small voice, peeking up at him through her eyelashes.

Shikamaru glanced down at his body, he could feel his lips bruising and his shoulders too, but that could also be the result of their rough make out, other than that he was perfectly fine. Seeing her hunched shoulder caused an odd pang in his chest. "I'm fine." He assured her, guessing the reason for the shift of mood .

"I'm sorry." Naruto whispered her hands going around to hug her body, covering her still naked chest. She suddenly felt sick of herself, it reminded her of the other reason why she'd never dated anyone.

The Beast sealed inside her.

She and Kurama may have been friends now, and the villagers may have acknowledge her, but the stigma of being the nine tail jinchuriki never really went away, that resulted in the opposite sex to be wary of her.

"I just got super excited, ya know. The chakra leaked. It happens sometimes when I'm very emotional." Naruto babbled avoiding his gaze, afraid that Shikamaru won't want to touch her after what happened. She wouldn't blame him.

Naruto tensed when she felt Shikamaru's warm and strangely comforting hand on her shoulder. She looked up to see he was looking down at her with surprisingly amusement sparkling in his eyes.

"Hey, you don't see me complaining, do you?" He said softly smiling at her, then his smile turned into a smirk as he winked. "I actually thought it was pretty hot... as in figurative hot."

Naruto gave him an hesitant smile. "Really?"

Shikamaru gave her a wry grin. "Would you believe me if I said your trick managed to turn me on even more?"

Naruto looked dubiously at him. "You're just saying that."

Shikamaru shook his head as he stood back so she could see him fully. "See for yourself."

Naruto's mouth gaped slightly as she stared at the obvious bulge on his grey pants, suddenly she felt her face flush as she looked up at his face. His expression was smug.

She bit her lips looking down at the floor feeling the desire to kiss him arise again. She fought the feeling though, she still haven't forgiven herself. "Still, that doesn't excuse me for losing control like that."

Shikamaru sighed as he dropped in front of her, cupping her cheeks. "Look, we were both pretty out of it and got heated. So what if the kyuubi's chakra leaked? You're allowed to lose a bit of control during these things, it's natural." Nobody ever complimented him on his consolation skill, so what? Still, despite his poor attempt at comforting her, he felt Naruto relax slightly under his grip. "Now, stop wasting time that we should've been doing... other productive things by brooding, that's the Uchiha's thing."

Naruto bit her lips to keep herself from smiling.

Shikamaru groaned as he bent to kiss her top lip. "Don't do that. It's driving me nuts." He kissed her on the lips, making sure to pull her lower lip from between her teeth. "Actually, seeing you half naked on the floor is driving nuts, I don't know if I can control myself any longer."

Naruto actually smiled ducking her head shyly.

Shikamaru waited a second or two before talking. "Can we go back to bed now?" He asked his eyes wide in a slightly hopeful manner.

He looked so adorable and different that it made Naruto laugh as Shikamaru helped her stand up, who knew sex turned Shikamaru like an adorably eager puppy. She snickered again at the comparison

 _There's an idea to motivate him whenever he's busy slacking off._ She thought feeling much better.

"Uhm..." Naruto said suddenly feeling awkward as she stood almost naked in front of him except for her underwear. She looked up and her breath caught in her throat at his expression, he was looking at her with the same hungry look she was now familiar with. She felt the same rush of excitement, intrigued and power at the gaze. Naruto swallowed a bit nervously, she didn't know what would come next, but she felt ready. You would think that after what just happened with the kyuubi's chakra and all, their mood would've been spoiled and their lust for each other would've been quenched like a dousing flame, but no, if possible their desire for each other had only grown stronger. Now, more than anything she wanted to do this, she couldn't explain it, but she felt that this was right.

"Do you think people felt it?" She asked referring to the kyuubi's chakra. She didn't particularly care, but she just felt like saying something to fill in the silence and if possible break the daze they'd both fallen into. The sexual tension in the air was making her hard to breath.

"Who cares," Shikamaru said pulling her towards him and kissing her full on the lips.

He pulled back and looked into her eyes. "Right now, you're the only thing I care about."

Naruto's heart lurched in her chest at his words in a way that it probably shouldn't have, considering this was supposed to be purely physical between them. But she was too occupied to care, Shikamaru's hands was busy drawing circles on her nipples causing her to hold on to his neck tightly afraid she might fall down, her knees had gone weak.

"You're so beautiful," he whispered pushing her on the bed, lightly this time. His hand went to her hair loosening the hairband. Naruto's hair fell in waves, framing her face.

"So fucking beautiful."

He was bent over her now, pulling on her underwear as his tongue dipped inside her mouth. Naruto's hands immediately fell to the button on his jeans, and she unbuttoned them, but he pulled away quickly.

"No yet," he warned. "Or else it won't last."

Naruto couldn't help but pout slightly. "But that's not fair!"

He chuckled pulling her bottom lip with his teeth so that she would stop pouting. "Don't worry, we still have time. I just want to make this very special for you. To make up for last time."

Naruto's brow furrowed in confusion, before understanding dawned on her. They were drunk when she'd lost her virginity to him. She felt touched that he hadn't forgotten, and the fact that he thought that he needed to make it up to her was kind of sweet. Her stomach fluttered slightly, she inwardly frown thinking that maybe she was getting hungry again, which was weird since she'd eaten a big bowl of ramen not long ago.

Naruto didn't have the time to dwell on the thought because he began to slide her underwear off her. He bent one of her legs and slipped it off her foot, then did the same to the other. He definitely wasn't looking at her eyes anymore.

He allowed her legs to fall back to the bed as he stood up straight and backed two feet away from her.

"Wow." he whispered, staring down at her. He was just standing there, staring at her as she lied naked on his bed, while he was still in the comfort of his pants.

She resisted the urge to squirm under his gaze sure that her face was bright red and grateful for the dimness of the light, she still thought it wasn't fair. But instead of complaining like she would've done in a normal circumstances, she allowed him to admire her body. For some reason she liked the attention from him.

Shikamaru dropped back down as if in a trance, he took one of her breast in his mouth and squeezed the other slightly, Naruto bit her tongue to keep from moaning in pleasure.

Shikamaru pulled back slightly, he was looking at her with the same fascination he'd been looking at her since he removed her clothes. "Can I taste you?"

Naruto's brow furrowed, unsure of what he meant. She hesitantly nodded after a paused curious despite herself.

Shikamaru dropped his head back down to kiss her breast briefly before moving down her toned stomach all the while leaving lingering kisses there. Then moved down until he reached her thighs.

Naruto was still watching him, curiosity, nerves and excitement battling in her.

Shikamaru pushed her legs apart. Two of his fingers slid into her, and she suddenly found it a lot more difficult to continue watching him. His thumb remained outside her, teasing every spot it could touch. She moaned letting her hands fall to the bed above her head as her eyes closed.

She wished he wouldn't stop, she prayed he wouldn't stop.

At some point somehow, he'd gotten back up because he was now kissing her softly on the lips. His lips a stark contrast to the pressure of his hand. His mouth repeated its earlier action, by kissing her slowly down to her neck, her breast covering her nipples, trailing her stomach and down, down, down, holy shit, down.

He settled himself between her legs, leaving his fingers inside her as his tongue met her skin, separating her, causing her back to arch and her mind to let go.

Naruto just let go.

She didn't care that she was moaning so loudly she probably just woke up the entire floor of his apartment.

She didn't care that she was digging her heels into the mattress, trying to pull away from him because it was too much.

She didn't care that his fingers left her in order to grip her hips and hold her against his mouth, refusing to let her climb away from him.

Naruto didn't care that she was more than likely hurting him, pulling his hair, pushing him into her, doing whatever she could to reach a point so high she was almost positive she'd never been there before.

Her legs began to shake, and his fingers found their way back inside her, and she was pretty sure she was trying to smother herself with his pillow, because she didn't want to get him kicked out of this apartment building by screaming as loudly as she needed to scream right now.

All of a sudden, she felt as if she was up in the air, flying. She felt like she could look down and there would be a sunrise below her. She felt like she was soaring.

Wow, wow, wow. Was the only words going through her mind right now.

When she'd completely melted to the bed, Shikamaru hungrily worked his mouth back up her body. He took the pillow off her face and tossed it aside, then kissed her briefly.

"Now for the finishing touch." He said. He slid off the bed, she watched him in a half daze as he took off his pants and boxers. She didn't even care to feel embarrassed at seeing him all naked. Her body was tense, anticipating his next move.

Shikamaru walked over to his dresser, his back was to her so she couldn't see what he was doing (not that Naruto minded, really, his backside was quite nice), but when he turned around he was holding something small and square. A condom.

Shikamaru stood with a condom still in his hand, a small frown was pulling at his lips.

Naruto sat up, her strength already returning. She cocked her head to the side in curiosity. "What's wrong?" She asked him, the way he was looking at the item made her curious. It was strange seeing him holding the condom. Well, it was strange lying in his bed watching him take out a condom knowing of what will happen soon.

Of course she knew what a condom was, she wasn't _that_ naive. She'd seen stashes of it in ero-sennin's bag one day during their travel when she had the misfortune of snooping in there. She just never thought that she would ever use it for herself. Technically, Shikamaru was the one that was going to use it, on her. Naruto swallowed when her heart sped up at the thought.

Shikamaru shook his head as if dispersing his worries. "Uhm, nothing. I just had a random thought."

Naruto's brow went up. "Right _now_?" She didn't want to disregard his 'random thought' but she felt a bit frustrated that he was wasting time thinking instead of doing... Something. Watching him stand there in his birthday suit was making her all kinds of dizzy, that she was afraid she might go crazy and jump him. "Don't you think the timing is a bit... Unconventional?"

Shikamaru paused a brief moment at Naruto's used of the word 'unconventional' before chuckling as he walked swiftly over to her. "I guess you're right. Sorry."

"This has taken longer than it should have." He said tearing the condom open with his teeth. He somehow managed to slide the condom on at the same time as he was pushing her knees apart with his other hand. "I will make it up to you now, I promise." He said in a deep smooth voice that had her inside churning in anticipation.

He paused between her legs as if waiting for her approval.

"Shikamaru." Naruto whispered softly fingers running through his dark hair in a caress. "Right now, all I care about is for you to be inside me."

Shikamaru smiled in relief. He took her leg behind the knee with his right hand, and then his lips met hers. "This might hurt a bit." He warned, then he thrust inside her so unexpectedly hard and fast she practically screamed in his mouth. He didn't slow down. He pushed harder and deeper until there wasn't any way they could possibly get any closer. Only then did he pull his head slightly back to look in her eyes. "Are you okay?"

It did hurt but in the best possible way. By now she was gripping his back so tightly digging her nails in it, but he didn't show signs of being in pain. "Don't... Don't stop." She stammered in between the pleasure coursing through her.

Shikamaru's mouth pressed back to her lips as he moved slowly up and down. Naruto moaned in his mouth and he groaned his hands travelling everywhere along her body.

He was going faster, she gripped his hair hard her hips going up to meet his pace.

"Holy fuck, Naruto." He groaned into her neck.

He thrust harder. Faster.

The room is filled with both their moans and grunts of pleasure.

"Fuck!" He grunted thrusting deeper into her.

Naruto's hands fisted the bed sheet as she closed her eyes in pleasure. "Don't stop." She mumbled, voice becoming more possessed by him the longer this continued.

"Wasn't planning on it."

He applied more pressure, both inside and outside her.

He grabbed her leg behind the knee and pulled it up between their chests, finding a slightly different angle to enter her. He held her leg firmly against his shoulder and somehow thrusts into her even deeper.

"Shika... Holy shit!" She began to shudder beneath him, and she was not sure which one of them broke down first, but they were kissing now. They were kissing as hard and as deep as his thrusts inside her.

He was loud. She was louder.

She was shaking. He was shaking harder.

He was out of breath. She was inhaling enough for the both of them.

He pushed into her one final time and held her firmly against the mattress with his weight as their body convulsed together.

They lied limply on the bed panting. Shikamaru rolled off her allowing her to breath easily. She was grateful for it.

"Shit, Shika..." she said in between pants as she turned to look at him. "That was fucking incredible."

He chuckled rubbing the sweat of his forehead. "Tell me about it."

So that was sex. Fuck, if she'd known that's how it felt she would've done it a long time ago. To think that she had doubts earlier, now she knew that doing this had been the right choice.

Shikamaru's movement caught her attention. She watched as he tried to sit up with great difficulty his back turned to her.

Naruto winced as she saw scratch marks on his back, she had to admit that she'd been a little rough with him. But a little part part of her was pleased to see she'd managed to mark him, as silly as that sounded she wanted him to carry proof of this night. She briefly wondered how he would explain those to anyone who would ask before dismissing the thought as unimportant. _He is smart, he will think of something._

Naruto watched in equal part fascination and embarrassment as he slid the condom off him with an ease that indicated experience. She briefly wondered how many times he'd done it before dismissing the thought when it made something twist in her stomach.

Shikamaru slid over to his dresser to take the box of cigarettes on it, he took one stick and put it on his lips, lighting it.

"Fuck, it's hot." He said walking over to open the window slightly.

Naruto wrinkled her nose at the smell as her eyes couldn't help but track his naked body move. He looked confident in his body, or maybe he just didn't care. She found that she admired that trait of his, and she could feel the craving for him coming back even though she hadn't recovered from the sex yet.

She propped her head up on her hand as she hungrily watched his muscles flex to open the window, she traced his well sculpted back. She liked that he wasn't heavily muscled or buffed. Neither was he skinny or anything, he was just built the right way, enough to say that he had his fair share of training. Man, that ass. Naruto licked her lips, she'd never thought she would be turned on by male ass one day. Or maybe it was just his ass that turned her on, as weird as that sounded. She didn't know how to feel about it.

Not wanting to ponder on things that might spoil her mood, she slid off the bed to walk over to him.

...

Shikamaru felt hands grabbing around his torso. He chuckled as he took the last inhale of his cigarette throwing the small bud out the window. He couldn't believe that she still wanted more. Not that he could blame her, he could feel himself hardening at her touch.

Naruto planted soft kisses on his back her hands exploring his hard chest and stomach.

He was still staring at the window, he could see his and Naruto's reflection on the glass in the dim light from the lamp on his dresser. Naruto's eyes met his through the glass, behind his left shoulder. Her eyes bright in the dark glinted in mischief and something like yearning. He watched with incitement as she went on her tiptoes so he could see the smirk on her face. She brought her mouth to his ears licking and nibbling at his earlobe, her eyes still holding his.

Shikamaru let out a sound that sounded embarrassedly like a moan.

Despite his state of lustful haze, his mind could still have rational thoughts. He knew that he should probably stop her, the agreement was one time. Plus, he didn't want to use Naruto like that. She deserved better than casual sex.

Shikamaru almost groaned at his hypocrisy. He hadn't been thinking about what Naruto deserved earlier when he was inside her was he?

He swallowed hard at the memory. He groaned, this time because Naruto was kissing a sensitive part on his neck.

"Naruto..." He was cut off by sweet lips on his. Naruto had circled around him so that she was now standing in front of him.

"Shhh," she whispered on his lips, "I can hear your brain working."

"I just-" He was silenced again, but this time with Naruto's finger on his lips.

"Come on," Naruto said softly, blue eyes boring into him in earnest and obvious need. "Just one more time, at least let me repay you for what you did to me." She said kissing his lips once before dropping to her knees.

Shikamaru's brow furrowed in confusion, having no idea what he'd done to the blonde that she felt the need to repay him. His brain was too slow to connect the dot until his appendage was in the blonde's mouth already. Successfully shutting off his brain.

"Shit!" Shikamaru tried to jump away, but Naruto's hold on his member prevented him from doing so. "You... Don't... Have to do... This." Each words was a struggle as he fought against the pleasure coursing through him.

Naruto paused in her movement to give him a look that says 'shut up'. Shikamaru closed his eyes taking a deep breath knowing that he couldn't argue with her. Well, at least not with his crotch in her mouth, and truthfully, He didn't want to. He relaxed and slowly let himself succumbed into what felt to him like eternal bliss.

The next few minutes was spent with Shikamaru cursing, a lot, as Naruto worked at 'repaying' him. A very small part of his brain- the one that wasn't overcome by pleasure- wondered where she'd learned how to use her tongue and mouth like that, considering she'd been a virgin before that night. A bigger part of his brain- the one filled with hormonal needs- told him to shut up and enjoy Naruto's natural talent with the tongue.

"Shit, Naruto!" He could feel himself coming close, "holy..." He gripped the window ledge-that he was still standing in front of by the way- with one hand and the other went around Naruto's head pushing her further into him.

"Naruto..." Shikamaru's body was shaking and he knew any second now he would... "Fuck!" His body convulsed before he went limp and failing on his back. Fortunately, Naruto had the mind to remove herself before he took her down with him.

Shikamaru panted as his eyes slid over to the moon shining through the glass window. He vaguely wondered whether anyone on patrol duty had seen them, but quickly dismissed the thought. His window was only low enough to show the half part of his body so Naruto was safe from view. Plus, if anyone had seen him there's no way they would guess what was happening. Unless they're Hyuuga of course. Without any conscious effort, his mind started analyzing the possibility.

There he went being paranoid again.

"Troublesome." He sighed removing a strand of hair sticking on his sweaty forehead.

"What's troublesome?" Naruto asked joining him on the floor.

Shikamaru turned his head to look at her. She was lying on her side, one hand was propped to support her head and the other was on the floor in front of her. The light from the moon casted an ethereal glow on her body darkening her normally bright blue eyes. She was looking at him curiously, head tilted to the side she had a slight satisfied smile pulling at her lips.

His eyes was immediately drawn to them, he wanted to kiss them. Actually, he realised with a start, he still wanted to have sex with her. He'd thought after sleeping with her once the craving he felt for her would somehow diminish, but that wasn't the case. If possible, it only managed to increase even more. He couldn't tell whether it was a good or bad thing.

Probably a bad. What the fuck was he thinking? that was the worst thing possible.

It seemed he'd been staring at Naruto for too long, because her smile slipped off and her brow furrowed in concern.

"Are you okay?"

Was he okay? He felt better than okay, even great. If his body could talk, it would have been humming in pleasure right now. He should've been the one asking her that question, Shikamaru thought with a frown as his eyes slid back to her slightly bruised lips. He shouldn't have let her do that, he never even let Temari do it to him the rare times they'd been in a mood of a little foreplay. He couldn't deny the feeling had been incredible... Actually incredible doesn't begin to describe how he'd felt, phenomenal perhaps?

Well, that didn't keep him from feeling guilty about the whole thing. Tonight was supposed to be hers. He was supposed to make it up to her, to make losing her virginity to him worth it. Shikamaru knew that girls always wanted their first time to be with someone special, and Naruto possibly wasn't any different. He might not be Narutos' special guy but he wanted to at least make the night memorable. Not let her suck him off and give him pleasure beyond words. It felt like cheating. "Why did you do that?"

Naruto's brow furrowed further, but this time into confusion. "Why did I do what?"

Shikamaru felt frustration well up in him. "Why did you... Do what you did by the window?" He couldn't say the word, he could feel his ears burning. He was only thankful that Naruto couldn't see it in the dim light.

Naruto's face cleared up when she understood his meaning, but then the worried frown came back and she bit her lower lip, momentarily distracting Shikamaru. "I didn't do it very well, did I?"

Shikamaru shook his head on the floor. "No you did great... I mean it was fine." He didn't want to tell just how fine it was.

Naruto sat up from her position, her expression turning more perplexed. "Then what's the problem? You didn't like it?"

Shikamaru sat up too but with more difficulties since his legs was still numb from the earlier ecstasy. "No, that's not it. I just didn't want you to feel obliged to do it."

Naruto frowned. "It wasn't an obligation, Shikamaru. I wanted to do it."

"Yeah, but I still feel bad for letting you do it. Temari never -" He cut himself off at Naruto's glare.

"I'm not Temari." She said somewhat coldly, then something seemed to occur to her because her glare turned suspicious. "You haven't been comparing me this whole time to her, have you?" She sounded slightly hurt.

Shikamaru shook his head vehemently. "No... Of course not... I just felt that it was unfair that I never let her do it, yet I didn't put up much of a fight with you."

Naruto searched his gaze for a moment before relaxing, her gaze soften considerably as she smiled. "You worry too much, really, I did it because... Well, I wanted to do it. I read it in one of pervy-sage's books and I just thought it'd be nice to repay you for making me feel... Good, ya know."

She looked down in embarrassment, fiddling with her fingers and Shikamaru had to stop himself from reaching out to kiss her. She just looked so cute. "I'm sorry if I grossed you out or something."

Shikamaru laughed softly before tilting Naruto's head up so she could look at him ignoring her reddening cheeks, for now. "You heard my profanities right?" Naruto blinked and Shikamaru took it as a yes. "Do you think such a reaction was stem from disgust?"

Naruto's eyes slid to his mouth before going back to his eyes, he imagined her swallowing nervously. Shikamaru could feel his breath getting shallower, and he was suddenly aware of the short space between them. Aware of their naked state. His fingers lightly skimmed on her pink lips causing her breath to hitch.

Softly, almost afraid to break the moment he whispered, "do you?"

Naruto blinked several times as if trying to remember what they'd been talking about. She licked her lips her pink tongue lightly brushing over his thumb and sending little sparks down his spine. "I-I suppose not."

Shikamaru's hand dropped to cup her cheek. His eyes roamed hungrily on her face. "Believe me when I say that grossed out is far from what I feel right now."

Naruto closed her eyes and leaned forward as if in a trance. "Okay." She whispered lips inches from his.

Shikamaru swallowed hard as he traced her beautiful face with his eyes. The long lashes fanning her cheekbones, the shape of her full lips and even the whisker marks on her cheeks which seemed to give her a more fierce look just like her spirit was.

He may not know why his body craved her so much, but he'd be stupid not to act up on it. Plus one more time wouldn't hurt, right? With that he brought his mouth crashing down on hers with a hunger and fierceness that he hadn't thought he possessed.

Naruto hummed contentedly in his mouth opening hers to give him access. He gladly slid his tongue to explore the hot cavern of her mouth. His hand slid at the back of her neck soft hair brushing his fingers. He pulled her to him. He wanted to inhale her, taste her, devour until the craving he felt for her was no more.

"Shika..." She moaned softly and Shikamaru almost lost it, he loved when she cut his name short like that. Normally he'd find it annoying but not when she did it in _that_ tone. He picked her up to put her on his lap well aware that her inner thigh was pressed on his groin.

Naruto's hands slid down to his chest lightly caressing it and igniting small fires throughout his body. Her mouth slid from his mouth down his jaw biting the sensitive part just below his ear. His breath hitched when she rocked into him, when it happened for the second time he knew she was doing it on purpose. Tease.

He breathed a laughed. "For someone so inexperienced, you sure are a natural."

Naruto grinned foxily down at him, her eyes twinkling in mischief. "When you spend time editing porn books for a certain porn writer for two and a half years, you do tend to learn a few stuffs."

Shikamaru growled biting softly on her neck. "Well, how about you show me some of the 'stuff' you learnt."

Narutos' smile stretched further. "You sure you're up for it?" Her eyes was challenging.

Shikamaru smirked sure that his eyes matched her stare. "Bring it on."

"Alright," Naruto said rearranging herself so that she was straddling him. She lifted herself up slightly smirking down at him and he swore her eyes turned red for a moment. "You asked for it."

Before Shikamaru could respond she brought herself down on him. A curse escaped Shikamaru's mouth but it was quickly muffled by Naruto's lips. Then she moved, slowly at first as if getting used to the feeling, . Her body tense under his arms, her breath erratic.

Shikamaru gripped Naruto's waist, directing her movement as she rocked into him.

Naruto bit into his shoulder to muffle her screams of pleasure, her arms tight around him.

Holy cow, was Naruto a screamer.

"Holy fuck!"

Okay, make that a foul mouthed screamer. Not that he was any better with the obscenities coming from his mouth each time Naruto rocked into him. He'd never swore that much in his entire nineteen years of existence.

"Shit, Naruto..." He could feel himself coming close.

Naruto brought her mouth to his ear. "I'm going to pick up the pace now, okay? Don't quit out on me yet."

Shikamaru looked into her normally bright blue eyes that had darkened with pleasure. He brought her face down to his and kissed her lips. He brushed the hair sticking to her forehead.

"Okay." He whispered.

Then Naruto was riding him, hard and fast. He tried his best to keep up, but there was a reason Naruto was called hyperactive. Damn, her stamina.

"Oh fuck, Shikamaru!" Naruto said hugging him tightly, her body shuddering in arms. "Fuck, fuck, fuck!"

Shikamaru kissed her once on her head. "I know." He held her as tightly as he could as she rocked one last time into him.

Their body were shaking uncontrollably. Their screams mixing and forming one loud cacophony.

Their body convulsed as they both reached their climax together.

Shikamaru's back met the floor, Naruto sprawled on top of him, still hugging him.

They were both panting harshly. Naruto laughed in the crook of his neck, a very sexy breathy laugh he might add. For some reason everything pertaining Naruto had become sexy to him.

"What?" It came out as a groan, he was so damn tired. His body felt boneless, he didn't think he could move, so going on the bed was out of the question.

Naruto lifted her head slightly to smirk at him. "For a lazy guy, you sure have stamina for sex."

Shikamaru gave her a lazy smile, his eyes already drifting shut. "I couldn't let you beat me up."

Naruto moved to stand up he gripped her waist. "Sleep first. Go later." He said shortly. What kind of a guy would he be to let her roam the street at this time of the night, even if they had an agreement.

"Shikamaru-"

He gripped harder. "Stay."

Naruto sighed in defeat blowing strands of his hair aside. "Okay, but wake me up when it's dawn."

Shikamaru nodded even if he had no intention of doing so. He pulled out of her as she adjusted herself next to him. Reluctantly, she turned so that her back was facing him. She moved so that there was a foot of space between them. He was a little amused by her action, she was taking the rule about not being attached to him very seriously, if not a little too literally.

He inhaled the sweet smell of jasmine that was coming from her hair. He pulled her closer to him, ignoring her weak protests. She sounded more tired than he felt.

"Shhh," He whispered in her hair. "Just sleep." He would worry about his strange behaviour tomorrow, for now he needed to replenish all his strength. But before he could drift off though, something occurred to him. He froze when he realized that they hadn't used a condom for that last round.

"Naruto?" He needed to make sure that his carelessness wasn't going to get him in trouble somehow.

"Uhm?"

Okay now how to ask the next question without sounding like an idiot? That question should've been asked in the beginning. "You're... Uhm... On the pill right?"

Naruto made a sound behind her throat and Shikamaru didn't know whether to take it as a yes or no. He waited a second or two for her to say something else, his nerves were starting to eat him up. When she didn't say anything else he decided to take it as yes... But just in case. "Are you sure?"

Naruto sighed irritably as she turned to look at him, he assumed that he was keeping her from sleeping, but he couldn't help it he had to make sure.

"Contrary to what people always believe I'm not that stupid, I do know how to take precautions." Her voice was a little exasperated with a tinge of bitterness.

He blinked not really expecting that response from her. "Right." He said lamely.

Naruto sighed again. "I'm sorry, I'm just really tired."

Shikamaru nodded, but his curiosity was picked. He'd never thought that it bothered her being treated like an idiot, she always acted like it didn't matter. But Shikamaru should've considered it, anyone would be at least resentful. Especially now that he was finding out that Naruto wasn't as dumb as he'd originally thought she was, it had to at least be frustrated sometimes.

"It's fine, I'm sorry too I didn't mean to sound degrading or anything. I just don't feel like being like a dad anytime soon." He said half joking. Something was still nagging at him about the whole issue, but since he couldn't quite pinpoint the source he decided to file it at the back of his mind to analyze later.

Naruto blew a breath before offering him one of her trademark grin. "Don't worry about it, and I'd hate to give you anymore reason to complain." She said also joking.

Shikamaru yawned as he laid back down. "True. Children are way too troublesome."

Naruto huffed poking him on the chest aware of their naked state. She tentatively laid her head on his chest, closing her eyes. "You're way too lazy for your own good."

Shikamaru hummed noncommittally. "Sorry I can't take us to bed, I feel kinda drained if you know what I mean."

He felt her chuckle slightly. "Don't worry, I understand."

A minute later they were both asleep.

* * *

The sun peeking through the window was the first thing Naruto noticed when she woke up. She squinted against the light, wondering if she'd forgotten to close the curtains again. She turned her face into hard chest to hide from the bright light, strong arms tightened their hold on her waist. She sighed contently as a light breeze brushed on her naked body. She hadn't closed the window too it seemed.

Wait- Naked?

Naruto bolted upright, she looked at herself to see that she was indeed naked.

Her head snapped around to look at her surrounding. The room was unfamiliar the walls were in a simple shade of blue, her eyes landed on the messy bed which was covered in a sheet the same color as the walls. The room was spacious and definitely not her room.

She wasn't even on her bed! She thought glancing down at where she'd just woken up on the floor. A movement to her side drew her attention and her jaw dropped at the sight.

A naked Shikamaru was waking up on the floor, he sat up squinting against the bright light of the sun with a groan. He stretched yawning, Naruto couldn't help track his hard muscles as they flexed.

Make that a very toned and naked Shikamaru. How come she'd never noticed that the guy was ripped before?

Oh yeah, she'd never been into boys before in _that_ way. Naruto was disappointed at her (past) ignorance. She was missing out on so much. She had to stop herself from reaching out to touch him.

Naruto was sure her mouth was hanging open with a slight drool on the corner. She shook her head to snap out of her daze, when she remembered that she was naked too. And as if that was the last clue to the puzzle needed, all memories of the night before came barrelling through her mind with a force so strong she was surprised she was still sitting upright.

Naruto blushed covering her chest just as Shikamaru's eyes fell on her, blinking rapidly as if he was in the same state of shock she was.

"Uhm... Hi?" Naruto said awkwardly, trying not to squirm as Shikamaru's eyes took her in, she did hug herself tighter though when his eyes paused on her covered chest. She closed her eyes praying that he didn't realize that last night was a mistake and decide to chuck her out.

He seemed to have recovered though, because he raised an eyebrow at her his lips pulling up in wry amusement. "Don't you think it's a little too late for modesty?" His voice was slightly gruff from sleep. Or maybe from the screaming they'd done last night? Her inner self suggested.

 _Shut up_.

Naruto's face was on fire now, but she was also relieved that he hadn't decided to kick her out. "Sh-shut up." She repeated loudly this time. She looked away from him in case her body decided to jump on him and kiss the daylight out of him. Damn, these hormones.

She opted instead to look around the room in hopes of finding her clothes, before remembering that she'd left it in the living room. She slumped, returning her gaze to see Shikamaru watching her with slight apprehension on his face.

"What?"

His brow furrowed, he grimaced slightly shifting on the floor as if in pain. "You're not regretting last night, are you? Because if you are..."

"What? No, I just-" She blew out a breath in frustration, shifting her legs to conceal herself more when his eyes traveled down her body. "This is just a little awkward for me, I guess." And it was, she has no idea how to act with him now. The fact that he was just sitting there naked staring at her without a care in the world wasn't helping either.

Naruto found herself regretting the decision to stay, if she'd gone home that time she wouldn't have been in this situation. Why did she let Shikamaru talk her into staying the night?

She sent him a sullen look, as if it was somehow his fault for her embarrassment. "Why didn't you let me go?"

Shikamaru snorted in disbelief. "I couldn't let you go out at that time, what kind of a guy do you think I am?"

"I can take care of myself." Naruto said feeling affronted.

"I know you can," Shikamaru said with an eye roll, he stretched his muscles inadvertently catching Naruto's attention again, his chest and neck was covered in slight bruises and scratch marks.

Naruto's eyes widen when she realized that the bruises were bite marks.

"But that goes against everything I am to let a girl walk home alone after a rough night of sex." He winked at her.

If possible Naruto's face turned more red at both the reminder of the night before and the fact that she was the one that gave him those marks. It looked like he had a confrontation with a wild animal. She didn't know whether to feel embarrassed or amused at the prospect but... Could those marks make him any sexier?

 _Ew, Naruto you're turning into a fan girl._ She took a deep breath, that was just her hormones talking, she told herself firmly.

"Fine." She said, if only to shut him up and distract herself from her thoughts. "Could you at least find something I could cover myself with? I need to find my stuff and go... home." For some reason the idea of going made her stomach sink. She ignored the feeling thinking that she was probably hungry, instead she glanced around again in case she'd missed one of her belongings. Where was her underwear and bra? She was sure she'd been wearing it when Shikamaru had brought her in his room. Cue to the memory to resurface, Naruto blushed again.

"I don't know," Shikamaru drawled, a lazy smirk pulling at his lips. "I'm kinda enjoying seeing you turn fifty shades of red. I think it's cute."

Naruto sent him a dark glare and he relented with a sigh.

"Fine, I'll look for your stuff. Troublesome." He muttered standing up and stretching one last time, He groaned a little as his back gave a satisfying pop. "Man, maybe sleeping on the floor wasn't such a good idea after all."

Naruto sent him a look that clearly said 'you think?' And he chuckled walking to his closet. Now that his back was turned Naruto couldn't help ogling at his firm behind, her eyes froze on the scratches and bite marks on his back. Holy... It seemed that she hadn't held back last night. Fuck embarrassment, Naruto bit the inside of her cheeks to keep herself from laughing, this was too amusing.

Shikamaru took out some briefs from his closet and put them on. He grabbed a towel from his closet. "You can take a shower first while I make us something to eat..." He raised an eyebrow when he turned to see Naruto's expression. Her face was still red, but she kept biting her lips as if to keep from laughing and her eyes were bright with amusement. "What?"

She shrugged innocently before standing up from the floor apparently all embarrassment gone. His eyes immediately traveled down her whole body.

She looked amazing as the sun shone bright behind and her already bright hair in a sexy tangle of mess. He swallowed hard as she approached him.

Naruto only took the towel from him wrapping it around herself, those damn eyes still laughing at him. "You might want to check yourself in a full length mirror." She suggested in mock-innocence.

He almost reached to pull her closer, but she backed off before he could.

"What?" Shikamaru said a little dazed before frowning as what she said registered. "Why?"

Naruto's eyes twinkled in mischief. Shikamaru was relieved to see the familiar playful look. He was starting to think that she regretted last night when she wouldn't even meet his eyes. He realized with a start that he didn't want her to regret their time together, because he didn't regret it. It was an amazing night that he planned to remember for the rest of his life, as corny as that sounded. He felt a slight pang at knowing that soon she would go and they would have to act like nothing ever happened.

Frowning slightly, he shoved the feeling aside not in the mood to analyze it.

Shikamaru looked down to examine himself, he saw red marks on his chest. "Shit." He tried to rotate so he could see his back, he only managed to catch a glimpse of the bite marks on his left shoulder.

"Oh man, this is so troublesome." Shikamaru groaned. "How am I going to explain this to anyone?"

Naruto was full out laughing now. He glared at her without any heat, and that just seemed to set her off more.

"I'm glad that you find this amusing." He grumbled walking out of his room and into the bathroom -the only place that held a full length mirror. He examined himself grimacing at all the bite marks and scratches marring his chest. He turned to see his back in the same condition. He groaned again.

"Don't be a baby, it's not that bad." Naruto said coming up behind him to inspect his body closely.

He threw her a dirty look and she laughed again. He didn't even bother checking if she had marks on her already knowing the kyuubi sealed inside her healed all the bruises he might have given her. Troublesome and unfair, he found himself thinking childishly, why did she get to mark him while he couldn't?

"If anyone ask just tell them, you had a run-in with a wild beast."

Shikamaru winced slightly when Naruto poked one specific bite mark on his neck. "I had sex with a wild beast is more like it." He grumbled under his breath.

He grabbed the hand that was about to punch him on the arm.

"You enjoyed every moment of it." She stuck her tongue at him.

Shikamaru looked at her tongue and raised an eyebrow, but Naruto's attention wasn't on him anymore her eyes was on the hand that he was still holding. He also looked down at their hands. Her hands were soft he noticed, and a tan contrast from his pale one.

Shikamaru loosen his hands but didn't release it.

Naruto looked up and their eyes connected. He didn't understand the pull he felt towards her each time he looked into her cerulean eyes. Last night was supposed to end the attraction between them. They were supposed to wake up today and realized that what they did last night was a total mistake. He wasn't supposed feel like kissing her each time he set his eyes on her.

He loved Temari, he knew that. Yet, he couldn't help but want Naruto.

Unwelcomed feelings were churning in him as he looked at Naruto. She frowned slightly as if she could feel his emotions.

He looked back down at their hands, slowly releasing hers. He could feel her confusion, but he refused to look back at her lest he get sucked in the blue pools that were her eyes and he wouldn't be able to resist her. The scary part? He wasn't sure he wanted to resist her.

He cleared his throat. "I should leave you to your shower." He said turning around to the door.

"Uhm... Okay." Naruto said watching in confusion as he closed the door behind him, feeling disappointment well up in her. She groaned hiding her face in her hands, she felt like pulling her hair in frustration at all these strange feelings.

Grumbling under her breath, she removed the towel from around her body, without a glance at her reflection-she knew she looked like a mess anyway- she went under the shower.

She didn't even bother locking the door, she already knew that Shikamaru wouldn't get in.

The shower was a wonderful blessing. Unlike her place where hot water was a rare occurrence, Shikamaru's seemed to have it in abundance. And Naruto made sure to take advantage of it.

Naruto sighed contentedly relaxing as the water cascaded down her back, she hadn't realized how stiff her body had been from sleeping on the floor. She could feel the kinks loosening from her muscles. This was all Shikamaru's fault, she thought with a scowl, he'd made her sleep with him on that damn cold floor naked! The memory of her body pressed against his hard chest with his arms around her flashed in her mind. Her face warmed under the already warm water, she refused to acknowledge the smile she could feel creeping on her face at the memory.

Naruto was about to take the shampoo when she noticed they were six bottles of shampoo with different brands, her expression was incredulous when she saw that they were all already opened.

What kind of guy used six different brand of shampoo? She wondered if he used all brands every day. She snickered at the mental image of Shikamaru standing in front of the mirror using all his shampoos for extra sheen purpose.

With another snicker Naruto took a random bottle without reading the label, but she could smell the coconut smell. Ten minutes later she was done, she wrapped her towel around her body and found a new toothbrush. She looked up blinking in surprise at the cracks on the glass as if someone had punched it in anger.

She shrugged dismissively, it was probably nothing serious. She hesitated a little before taking the spare toothbrush and brushed her teeth, she was out of the bathroom less than five minutes later.

Her clothes had been deposited on the already made bed when she found her way back into the bedroom-it wasn't hard, the apartment only consisted of two rooms and a shower from what she could see.

She blushed when she saw her underwear and bra spread on the bed, the image of Shikamaru holding her underwear was enough to make her weak in the knees. Especially when she remembered him sliding it off her.

"Get a hold of yourself." She growled under her breath in hopes of getting her raging hormones in control. With an annoyed huff at herself, she got dressed. The sooner she finished the sooner she could go back home and forget all about this.

If only that were easy and possible.

When Naruto emerged from the room she almost bumped into Shikamaru.

"Sorry. I was coming to check on you." He said running his fingers through his hair.

"Afraid I'd drowned?" She teased avoiding to look at his still bare chest.

 _More like afraid you left without saying goodbye_ , he thought to himself. "No, I was just worried you got lost on the way to the kitchen." He said walking back to the said kitchen.

Naruto sniffed the air following him behind. "If I get lost I would just follow the smell... Is that eggs you're cooking?"

Shikamaru chuckled slightly walking to the plate of food he'd set on the table. "Yep, that's about the only thing I know how to make including bacon... and maybe fish."

"Hmmm," Naruto said sitting down. "Smells good." On cue her stomach growled as if in agreement. Naruto had the grace to blush, but she didn't care. She licked her lips, her mouth already watering.

There was all her favorite food on the table, eggs, bacon, _pancakes_ , strawberries and orange juice! Naruto loved orange juice more than she loved the color itself. Without waiting for permission Naruto served herself a cup full. It seemed that he went all out to cook them breakfast, she'd never eaten so much food all at once. Well, at least not the food that someone else had cooked. Especially breakfast.

Shikamaru chuckled again. "Looks like someone is hungry. Look, help yourself while I go grab a quick shower, is that okay?"

"Sure, sure." Naruto said distractedly her attention already on the food.

Shikamaru shook his head with a half smile before turning back to head in the bathroom.

Shikamaru returned ten minutes later to find Naruto about to eat his half of the meal. "Hey, You finished yours, leave mine alone."

Naruto pouted. "But I'm still hungry!"

Shikamaru gave her a bored look sitting down before Naruto could attack his portion. "I don't care."

"Meanie!" Naruto blew a raspberry at him.

Shikamaru rolled his eyes at her childishness. He shook his head in slight disbelief, where did she store all that food? He wondered eyeing her flat stomach dubiously. His eyes fell on her chest, maybe in there? Surely those needed some kind of support to become that size. Images of him holding them assaulted him, he swallowed hard fighting the warmth that was threatening to show on his face. He was acting like a child just barely in his teens. He is nineteen for crying out loud!

"So," Naruto said leaning forward, completely oblivious to his thoughts. "What's up with all the shampoos in your bathroom? I never pegged you for a sissy." Her eyes twinkled in mischief.

Shikamaru looked slightly uncomfortable, he hesitated a little before talking. "They're not mine, they're Temari's."

"She uses all of them?" Naruto asked incredulously, ignoring his slight hesitation to mention Temari's name. Naruto didn't have any problems with Temari so she didn't understand why the hesitation, _maybe he thinks I would be upset?_ She wondered, but that was ridiculous. If anything, Naruto actually felt a little guilty for what they'd done the night before.

Only a little.

It was much too soon to fully feel guilty. The memories of last night was too fresh in her mind. Sending tendrils of pleasure every time she thought about it.

At least what Temari didn't know wouldn't hurt her, right? Well, she at least hoped so.

Shikamaru shrugged at her question, his tone had gone flat. "I don't know, she brings different brand of bottles every time she comes here and sometimes she forgets to take them with her. So it just stays here."

Naruto's brow furrowed in confusion. "Why does she bring new ones here, why doesn't she just come use the ones that she leaves here?"

"I don't know, okay?" Shikamaru snapped in annoyance. "Maybe it has something to do with Suna's harsh weather and the sand that get into her hair every time she travels to Konoha."

Naruto glared not appreciating being snapped at. "Well, just say so instead of being an asshole about it."

Shikamaru sighed looking down at his plate, he took a bite of his pancake but his appetite was almost gone. "I'm sorry, I just really don't want to talk about it." About her. Thinking of her caused a bile to rise up his throat in guilt. Talking to Naruto about Temari was just making it worse. But he couldn't bring himself to regret what they'd done. Sex with Naruto was a pleasantly different experience for him, he realized that he liked it so.

Sex with Temari was wonderful he couldn't deny that, but it always lacked the thrill and excitement one would feel about sex. He knew he shouldn't compare the two, but he couldn't help it, Naruto provided that thrill for him. Naruto's wild nature provided him with excitement and he liked that she let him guide her into the action, she didn't try to dominate him. Not like Temari, who always liked to be on top, which he didn't mind of course but sometimes he always fancied a change. Naruto didn't care what position she was as long as she was enjoying herself. He liked that about her. That didn't make it right though, liking someone because of sex was never a good thing.

"You should talk to her." Naruto said interrupting his thoughts.

Shikamaru sighed irritably, shrugging one shoulder. "I will." He first needed to get his answers from the hokage. He couldn't help the feeling of apprehension settling in his gut every time he thought about it. What if Temari didn't lie to him? What if she was really being forced to get married? Would he really accept the council's offer or would he let them marry her to someone else?

It was true that he didn't want to get married yet, but he'd never live with himself if he knew that he let Temari marry someone else against her will.

If he did accept the council's proposal and married Temari. That didn't mean they'd be happy in their marriage though.

Naruto bit her lips, hesitating a little before asking. "Do you want to talk about last night?"

Shikamaru raised an eyebrow, pushing thoughts about Temari and marriages aside. "Do you?"

Naruto shrugged looking down at the table. "Not really."

Shikamaru nodded, going back to his breakfast. "Besides, there's not much to talk about that we haven't already discussed."

"I guess, you're right." Naruto said swallowing her disappointment. "In that case, I guess I will be on my way." She stood up to go.

Shikamaru frowned at her wording, it sounded too formal for his liking. As if what they had last night was just an agreement and now that they've just reached the end of it was time to go. It doesn't matter that it was the truth, it still felt wrong somehow. He followed her before he could talk himself out of it. "Naruto, wait."

Naruto stopped before she could get to the door, she turned around but didn't look at him her gaze was fixed on her bare toes instead.

Shikamaru opened his mouth, but the words wouldn't come out. He wanted to ask her to stay, but he was unsure as to why he wanted her to stay. He hated that he seemed unsure for lots of things when it came to Naruto these days. So instead he just sighed and asked. "Are we okay?"

Naruto looked up, he expected to see her give her usual bright smile and say everything was fine but instead she looked up at him steadily. "I don't know, are we?"

Shikamaru grimaced by her expression he knew that she wasn't referring to them being cool with each other, she was referring to these new feelings they seemed to have acquired for each other. She was wondering whether they would be fine ignoring those feelings, and acting like nothing is wrong whenever they're in each other's company. He knew that because he was wondering the same thing. The thing was he didn't have answers for those questions.

He knew what his answer should be of course. What he felt for Naruto was just temporary. A fling. One day the feeling would fade. It would have to, because he was choosing Temari.

Naruto must have sensed his decision, because her eyes seemed to drop in disappointment. When she looked back at him, her smile was sad but understanding.

Shikamaru felt like punching himself. He was such a dick.

He stepped forward, but she'd already turned to the door. He watched her slip her feet in her shoes, she tilted her head back towards him.

"See you around?" Before he could respond she was already out the door.

Shikamaru watched the closed door in silence for several seconds.

If this was the right decision, why did he feel like the biggest idiot of all fire nation? Shouldn't he feel relieved that he wouldn't have to deal with these complex feelings anymore?

Just when he was about to turn around, a knock sounded at the door.

Shikamaru's brow furrowed as he hesitantly opened the door.

"Wha-"

He was cut off by a pair of lips kissing him hard, his hands automatically went on her waist. Before he could return the kiss though, Naruto stepped back.

He blinked dazedly at her, he hadn't expected that. "Not that I'm complaining but, what was that for?"

Naruto looked down in embarrassment, her hand going to rub behind her head. She shrugged her shoulders. "Just wanted to thank you."

Shikamaru blinked. "Thank me for what?"

Naruto ducked her head further, two spots of red staining her cheeks. "For last night." She mumbled.

Shikamaru chuckled, he lifted her chin up with his finger so that he could see her beautiful face. He brushed slightly the hair out of her face, she'd left it loose today and he found that he preferred it like that. "I should be thanking you for the wonderful experience."

Naruto smiled, they stayed like that for a moment before Shikamaru reluctantly dropped his hand.

Naruto stepped back, pointing her thumb behind her. "Um... I should be going before anyone... sees me."

Shikamaru blinked as he realized that they were standing in front of his apartment door, and anyone could have walked by and spotted them. "That's probably a good idea."

Naruto flashed him a smile, turning around to go.

"Naruto," he called before she could take another step, she turned her eyebrows raising in question. Shikamaru's lips quirk up in a slight smile, he shoved his hands in his pocket as he leaned against the door frame he nodded at her. "See you around?"

So what if all of this was confusing, he couldn't deny that his curiosity was picked. He wanted to know why he seemed attracted to her, and the only way to find out was if he saw her again right?

He ignored the sane part of his brain that was telling him to stop and think of what this would mean with Temari. He watched Naruto's eyes widen in surprise as she caught his meaning, her face broke into a grin.

Temari broke up with him, that was her choice, he thought. Plus it's not like he would be cheating on her, right? People always said he was too uptight because he always thought before acting, so from now on he'd listen to his body instead of his brain. It was high time he tried something different in his life anyway.

"Definitely." Naruto said nodding, she waved slightly. "Bye, Shikamaru."

Shikamaru waved back and watched her go for a moment, he vaguely wondered if he should be worried that someone might spot her but immediately dismissed it. Naruto was a ninja, avoiding detection was part of the job description, she will be fine.

He turned around and closed the door going back in the kitchen, it wasn't until he was eating breakfast that everything really dawned on him.

Holy shit, he'd just slept with Naruto.

Shikamaru stopped eating as his brain decided to catch up with him, in his head he imagined his father and late-sensei both bashing their heads on the wall at his idiocy.

His thoughts was interrupted by a summoning bird that came in through his window. _Time to work,_ he thought standing up.

All the while when he was getting ready, he couldn't chase the feeling of apprehension that went through him.

Things were about to change, he could feel it.

* * *

Naruto walked up the steps of her apartment in a slight daze, she couldn't stop thinking of the event of the night before. Her stomach fluttered slightly at the memory. Once again, like every day she ignored her neighbor that opened her curtains just to glare at Naruto. Nothing can get her mood down today.

Naruto closed her door as she entered her home, taking off her sore shoes glad to be out of that nightmare. She dropped the henge that she'd put on in order to hide from people that might recognize her, She'd been very careful to avoid crowded places too just in case.

Naruto hummed a soft tuneless song as she made her way to the kitchen side of her apartment. Her place was a one bedroom apartment, with the kitchen connected to the living room making it an open kitchen. It wouldn't have been so bad if only the space wasn't so small, making everything in there cramped. Despite all this, Naruto still loved her home, she would never trade it for anything else in the world. Her worst and best memories were spent here.

Naruto took a glass and poured herself some water to drink.

"Morning, Naruto."

Naruto jumped, startled, she dropped the glass she was holding on the floor, she whirled around to see her uninvited guest sitting calmly on her couch as if he hadn't just given her a fright.

"Sai, what the hell!?" She cried, gripping her chest to keep her heart from jumping out of her throat. "Do you always have to be this creepy?"

Sai blinked a slight frown drawing on his forehead. "Forgive me, Naruto I did not mean to scare you."

Naruto was about to say something but just sighed, shaking her head. "Never mind." Instead, she dropped on the ground to pick up the shard of glasses she'd broken. "So what are you doing here?"

Sai stood and walked over to help her. "I've been waiting for you."

Naruto tensed, making sure to keep her tone casual and not show her sudden nervousness. Sai may have been socially inept but he definitely wasn't stupid, there was a reason why he was Anbu captain after all. No need to give him a reason to suspect anything. "Uhm, how long have you been waiting?"

Sai put a finger under his lips rubbing it in a thoughtful manner as he looked around the small apartment. "It's been awhile." He finally said.

Naruto looked around in surprise, only now noticing how clean her apartment looked. Even the dirty dishes in the sink had been washed. Was she that distracted that she didn't notice all that? She frowned, not liking that she was already being affected so soon. She wasn't supposed to be attached, that was part of the deal. If she couldn't keep herself together after one night of sex how will she handle the second time. Because now she was sure that there will be more to come, Shikamaru may not have outright said it but he did imply it. Well, Naruto at least hoped so.

Shaking her head she focused back on Sai who was still waiting for her response. "Sai, you didn't have to do that."

A small frown appeared on his forehead, too small to see if you didn't know Sai. But Naruto knew Sai therefore noticed the frown, not wanting to offend him she quickly said. "I mean, thanks, it's very nice of you. But you shouldn't have bothered, I would have done it whenever I had free time anyway."

Sai's face cleared and a small smile appeared on his pale face. "It was not a bother," his smile suddenly turned fake. "I quite enjoyed picking up your stray underwear."

Naruto's brow twitched as she redden in embarrassment, glaring at him. "Just when I thought you were being nice. Do you always need to be such a creeper?"

Sai blinked innocently, "I don't know what you mean."

Naruto rolled her eyes, going over to sit on her beat up couch, another thing she couldn't seem to get rid of. "You didn't answer my question, what are you doing here?"

Sai who had followed her sat next to her. "I came to treat you to some ramen."

Naruto looked at him in surprise, her heart warming at the gesture. Sai may have been socially inept, but he had a kind heart. It was time like this that reminded Naruto that he hadn't chosen to be like this. Danzo had caused it. May he rot in hell, or wherever people like him go.

"Oh Sai, that is so nice of you but I'm not really hungry." She'd already eaten at shikamaru's, but when she saw Sai's face fall she fell a little bad, so she thought of something that could benefit the both of them. "Tell you what, how about you come spar with me at the training ground, and after that we can go grab something to eat."

Sai nodded smiling slightly. "I'd like that."

Naruto nodded standing up. "Let me just grab my weapons, I will be right back." She walked over to her room, feeling the usual thrill of excitement at the prospect of training. Training should do her some good, it would stop her from thinking about a certain lazy shinobi and all the multiple feelings he brought. Plus, it would help spend some time with her friend, a win-win solution.

Due to them being busy with their respective duties, Naruto hardly ever get to see her friends unless there was a gathering somewhere, and during those times everyone made sure to enjoy each others company as much as possible. Sai wad often out on mission seeing that he was Anbu and all she hardly ever saw him, even for their team bonding mission.

When she got back to the living room she found Sai still sitting down, his expression was pensive. Naruto raised an eyebrow, "what's up with you?"

Sai stood up, he looked at her thoughtfully. "There's something different about you."

Naruto froze, a slight panic shot through her. Could it be that he could tell what she'd been up to? If so then how? She ran her fingers nervously through her hair, wishing that she hadn't lost her hair tie at shikamaru's, her hair probably had the tell-tale signs of her night activity. "W-what do you mean?"

She hoped against all hope that she didn't have any visible hickey. She hadn't bothered to check herself in the mirror because she knew that any bruises she might have had disappeared in the night, but just in case the fox was playing some tricks on her like last time.

After another moment of thoughtful silence, Sai's face cleared. "I got it,"

Naruto stopped breathing as she waited, her mind already going through different blackmails in order to keep him from repeating it to anyone.

Sai smiled, one his fake smiles. "You look like a girl today."

Naruto blinked once, twice. Her hands twitched at her sides as she fought the urge to knock his teeth off. "Sai, you moron." She growled, glaring at him, "What is that supposed to mean?"

"At first, I couldn't quite put my finger on it, but then I saw your outfit and realized that it wasn't your usual hideous jumpsuit." Sai said not realizing how close he was from being flung out of the window, "If you ask me, this outfit suits you much better, if only your hair didn't look like you just came from an A-rank mission. Are you sure you still want to train? I mean if you were already fighting you must be so-"

Naruto gave up on holding back, the next thing Sai knew he was flying over on Naruto's couch. Naruto nodded in satisfaction, before walking out the door.

"Naruto, wait! I meant it in a good way!"

Naruto rolled her eyes, smiling at the warm breeze that ruffled her hair as she jumped over to the next building. "You better not be lagging behind! I've got some ass-kicking to do!" She called out as she sensed her friend following behind her.

She will be kicking his ass alright, she thought with a wicked smile.

* * *

"So where did you go this morning?"

Naruto's hand that had been rubbing her shoulder paused at the question, she bit her lips thinking up of an excuse quick. "I had, uh, an errand to run."

Sai looked at her confusedly. "I did not see you with any bags."

"Yeah, well, it wasn't mine." Naruto stalled avoiding his eyes as she pushed her bangs away from her sweaty forehead. They were currently resting after their spar, when Sai decided to pop the dreaded question. "I had to go drop something at, uh...Iruka-sensei, yeah." Oh how Naruto hated lying, now she just hoped Sai wouldn't go verify to Iruka or she'll be toast.

Sai's face still looked confused, but before he could ask any more questions Naruto quickly jumped on her feet startling him. "Oh I'm so starved, how about that ramen that you promised me earlier?"

Sai nodded standing. "Let me just pick up our weapons."

Naruto sighed in relief as she watched him. She needed to be careful from now on, if she still wanted what ever it was with Shikamaru to happen again. She couldn't get caught. Naruto had to wonder if it was worth it though, would sleeping with Shikamaru be worth all the secrecy and lies that would result from it?

Naruto shook her head, not wanting to dwell on it right now as she could see Sai returning. She just hoped that it wouldn't end up blowing in their faces whenever this adventure decided to end. Because that's what it felt like to Naruto, an adventure. Except, she had no idea where it would lead them, all she had was her impulse and feelings to guide her.

"That's the last of it." Sai said coming to stand in front of her, he handed her weapons which stored in her pouch immediately.

"Well, then what are we waiting for? Let's go eat ramen!" Naruto crowed, taking Sai's hand and walking them both towards the village. "If we're lucky we can also get Sakura to join, she should be finishing her shift soon."

Sai groaned. "Not the hag."

Naruto laughed loudly at his reaction all the while dragging Sai towards the direction of the village.

...

Gaara closed his eyes and titled his face towards the sun as he basked in the warmth it provided. With a sigh, he counted the minutes before he had to return to his office.

He watched as the villagers went about their day despite the heat of the sun, then again they're already used to it. The thing with Suna, the weather got very hot during the day to the point that sometimes shops closed early. During nightfall it got very cold people had to be aware of unexpected storms.

Despite that the villagers loved their village, and that filled Gaara with unexpected warmth that he'd never thought he could ever feel. He could still remember the days when darkness was his only solace, he would forever be grateful to the one person that helped save him from that pit of hell.

Naruto.

His lips involuntary twitched at the thought of her. He wondered how she was doing, it's been awhile since he'd seen her. Maybe he should send a letter requesting to see her?

Tilting his head back towards the sky, he realized that it was time to get back to work. With a forlorn sigh at the thought of all the paperwork that would welcome him, he stood from atop the cliff where he'd been looking down at his village. With a last look Gaara transported himself back to his office.

At the renewed stack of papers on his desk, he bit back a sigh.

Just when he was about to sit to get on with his work, a knock sounded by the door.

"Come in."

A moment later, his secretary entered with a letter in her hand.

"Kazekage-sama, you've received a letter from Konoha."

With a slight furrowed of his brow, he took the letter from the petite woman. "Thank you Miyu-san."

With a bow she left him to his privacy. Gaara waited for the door to close before opening the letter. He wondered what it could be about, it wasn't often that he received official letters from their ally. He tried to think of any reason why the Hokage could write to him. _Maybe it's Naruto_ , he thought, but then shook the idea away. If Naruto had been involved the letter wouldn't have been so...formal, this looked like business.

With slight apprehension he read the letter.

 _Kazekage-san_

 _It has come to my attention that your council is trying to marry one of your shinobi with mine in the pretense of strengthening the alliance. I was not aware that our alliance was in crisis, if so then you and I need to talk. I do not appreciate being blindsided when it comes to council matters. I hope you have a good explanation for this, because going behind my back straight to one of my shinobi for a proposal could also be considered a breach of contract, don't you think?_

 _I hope to receive a response from you soon enough, this matter need to be sorted._

 _Signed Godaime hokage,_

 _Konoha_

Gaara sighed tiredly as he put the letter on the desk. Now he knew why his sister had come home from Konoha looking upset and distraught. She'd gone and done what he specifically told her not to do and now she'd created a whole new problem for him.

Now that he thought about it, from the state she'd been the other day, he deduced that she'd gone ahead and proposed to the Nara but he'd turned her down. Gaara wondered whether the Nara had suspected that Temari was acting alone and no council had sent her, or he just didn't feel ready to get married to his sister. Either way, it posed a new problem now that the hokage was aware.

"Miyu-san," he called out, a moment later his secretary popped her head in his office.

"Yes, Kazekage-sama?"

"I would like to know when is my sister coming back from her mission, please."

"I will be right on it." The head disappeared from the door.

Gaara liked his secretary, she wasn't that much older than him (probably three or four years older). She was very professional in everything she did, she was very efficient in her work and never let personal feelings get in the way. It helped that she never fawned over him or tried to meddle in his business all the time like his old secretary. Despite being petite she can pack a punch, he'd seen it first hand when his perverted brother had tried his luck on her.

He shook his head from his thoughts when Miyu returned with a file in her hands.

"Your sister is not due until," she said shuffling some pages, "Three days from now."

Gaara frowned. "Isn't there a way she could get here earlier?"

She shook her head."It's an A-rank mission, sir."

"I see." Gaara knew how important those were, and if she was out of the wind country all together it would be very hard to track her down. Not to mention she would be very angry to be interrupted from her mission.

Gaara sighed in disappointment. "Tell her to come straight in my office when she gets back, it's important."

"Of course, sir." She hesitated a little before saying, "Is there something else I can do for you, sir? A cup of coffee maybe?"

Gaara was about to decline but stopped when he saw real concern in the woman's eyes, she must have sensed his distress. Still after all this time it still surprised him whenever someone showed kindness to him. With a faint smile he nodded, "coffee will be great, thanks."

Miyu smiled, glad that she'd managed to produce one of her leader's rare smile, as small as it was. "I will be right on it, sir."

Gaara's smile slipped off the moment she was gone, he picked up the letter to read it again. With another sigh he glanced out the window. _Temari what have you done?_

* * *

 **Well, here's the end of the chapter I'm sorry it's too, but once again I was overexcited to upload it and I kinda couldn't think of anything to write at the end.**

 **So what did you guys think of this chapter? Am I the only one that thinks that shikamaru is so infuriating?**

 **I fell like shaking him myself whenever I wrote his character. don't worry though he will get better from here on, kind of. I mean some guys are are very slow when it comes to love, Shikamaru just happens to be that type. Ironic much? Well, just bear with me please.**

 **Don't forget to leave a review, constructive criticism is appreciated.**


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